The Merrill Adoption Story

So Much To Be Thankful For

2009-11-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

I have not posted since July. I hope you all have not given up on me. I have a lot to tell and I will start where I left off in July...In August brought the Yuma County Fair. Sierra participated by showing pigs for her dad. She was a real trooper and worked hard all summer. She also showed at the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo Colorado at the end of August. I think she really did enjoy the competition and that "little bit of country" came shining through. Sierra is now at Aveda Insitute in Denver and is doing very well. She is already finished with her first phase and has been doing cuts and color on anybody that will let her. She is loving it!! Has met a great friend and is experiencing dorm life. She came home for Homecoming in October and went with Jon(his senior year)they were both adorable.

Bailey started her junior year at Laramie High School and is starting to train for track season. She is still very interested in Psycology and would like to become a Psychiatrist. She even said something about med school the other day, so we will see. That would be great, free psych care for the entire crazy family!! Happy 17th birthday to Bailey on November 10th!

Erica is in Boulder working as a vet tech and has applied to vet school at 5 different schools. We are keeping our fingers crossed. She keeps busy with her two dogs, Oliver and Buster, and working.

Aaron is in Baltimore and completing his prerequisites for Nursing School in the fall. He will be home for Christmas and we miss him very much.

Nati is a busy 3rd grader at Beitel Elementary and loves life. He keeps everyone entertained with his story telling and sense of humor. He is an incredible athlete and continues to do really well at soccer. He will try basketball for the first time in January. I have no doubt he will figure it out pretty quick. He continues to do well in school and should be caught up to grade level in reading by the end of the year. His teachers LOVE him!!

Kidus is a funny loving little boy! He loves preschool and has a ton of friends. Always happy but does like to test the limits like any other 4 year old! He also played soccer again this fall and really started to get the hang of it.

Clint and I have had a lot of transition this fall. We decided at the end of August to close the oncology practice in Laramie after failed negotiations with the hospital. We decided that all the goodbyes were too hard and we took a huge leap and opened our practice again after the purchase of a building in Laramie. It is a great building but will need some remodel. We are currently seeing patients at the new location and loving it! We are away from the stresses of the hospital administration and things have to be better. We have had such support from the community and our patients it has been incredible. Laramie truly is our home and it was important for Bailey to graduate from here. We love our home and have put so much work into it, it would be very hard to leave it. I think we are here to stay.

We have very loyal staff and could not have come this far without them.
We feel very lucky for our wonderful family at work and at home. Life is good......

The holidays are coming and we are all excited and getting ready for the big cruise for Christmas. No COOKIES for the next three weeks!! My entire family is going. I can't wait for margaritas and sunshine!!

A few pictures to enjoy......

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I don't know where to start...

2009-07-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

I am so far behind that I don't even know where to start. So much has happened since my last post, State Track for Bailey, Graduation for Sierra, Freezing Fourth of July, Baseball for Nati, Tee Ball for Kidus and swim lessons for both boys. Summer is flying by and the kids will be back in school soon! We only have a month, they start August 24th. I will only post a few pictures of our spring and summer and hope that I can stay caught up from now on.

Our spring was very busy with Bailey competing in track her sophmore year. She had a great season and even broke the school record for the 400 meter. She placed in the top 8 in 3 events at the state meet. Grandma, grandpa, aunt Karla and cousins, Brittnee and Jenner came to cheer her on. We all had a great time and are so proud of Bailey!!

We were also preparing for graduation for Sierra. We had a very nice reception for her the day after her ceremony and all of my family was able to attend. It was a very special time and unbelievable that my baby girl could be graduating from high school. Sierra has planned to attend the Aveda Institute in Denver starting in September. She has spent a good portion of her summer in Yuma with her dad and will be participating in the Yuma County Fair this next weekend.

Nati played his first American baseball this summer. He is such a natural athlete that no matter what he tries for a sport he is very good at it! He loved the kids on the team and his favorite position was catcher.

Kidus played tee ball this summer also. He really enjoyed it and we cannot believe how strong he has gotten in just one year. He could not even pedal a bike a year ago.

A visit from grandma and grandpa Caley! They came all that way to spend a week with us! We had a great time and I think they really enjoyed the boys! Also, HAPPY 80th BIRTHDAY VIRGINIA on July 23rd. We love you!We took the boys fishing this last weekend up to Snowy Range. We started at the Huck Finn Derby at Laprele Park in Laramie and after not catching a thing for an entire hour in a "stocked" pond and 500 kids with poles and fishing hooks flying everywhere we decided to leave. We drove to the Snowy Range in less than an hour from our house and had a wonderful time. It rained and was a little chilly but it doesn't matter when you finally catch your FIRST FISH!! Nati was so excited!! He kept saying "I am a lucky boy - it is my lucky day!" It puts life back into perspective when you see such happiness from such a simple thing! We all need to step back and enjoy life a little more! Thanks Nati for the reminder.

Just Pictures-No Time To Write

2009-05-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Prom 2009. The girls had a great time and we had their friends out after the dance for movies and snacks. These are a few of the great pictures that I took of my beautiful girls and their handsome dates.
Sierra went with Jon Sorenson and Bailey's escort was Cody Cisneros.

Such great kids-we are so lucky! I will try to get more pics of the boys and Bailey's track on soon.

Spring Break at the Blachburg Ranch

2009-03-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Those little Ethiopian cowboys!! The boys were lucky enough to go to Aunt Karla and Uncle David's ranch for spring break. Nothing could have been better in their minds. Nati got to wear his boots and spurs everyday if he wanted.

Clint and I were in Ft. Collins for a few days for Clint's total knee replacement surgery. He is doing quite well for only two weeks out, he is back at work seeing patients and on his feet for the majority of the day, AMAZING!!

Nati and Kidus had a great time at Aunt Karla's house!! First of all, they LOVE Aunt Karla!! They were able to be outside and play and just be boys on the ranch. They also were able to see Grandma and Grandpa Frihauf and all their cousins. We picked them up towards the end of the week so they could come home and help me with their daddy.

THANK YOU KARLA!! All the great experiences we have given these boys in the last year, not to mention all the love and acceptance for who they are. Thank you again, FAMILY!!!

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Our Project-The Promise for Children

2009-03-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

A few photos of the new residents of the Promise for Children. Tigist has been able to get the following children from the orphanage and they are now living at the new house. This is the new home we are helping to fund and Tigist is running, with the help of three house mothers. This makes me want to go back to Ethiopia and give hugs and kisses!!
(the dates on the photos are not accurate) These photos just taken last week.
Haregwa-6 years old. We met her when we were there a year ago. We thought she was a little boy. Her hair was very short and they always had he dressed in boy's clothing. She is in many of the group pictures. I have asked Tigist for her story. I am not sure why she did not get an American family. She is adorable!

Henok and Tiblet-2 year old twins. We also met them when we were in Ethiopia. They are adorable and receiving better care now that they are in Tigist's care. Robel-Approx 1 year. He was under the care of Tigist at the AFAA house also. Back in her arms again! I will keep you posted on their progress and also if more children join them. God Bless Tigist and all the children!!!

The Loss of an Icon in the World of Ethiopian Adoption

2009-03-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

We received sad news from Ethiopia last week. Haregwoin Teferra has passed away. We do not have many details, only that she became ill and died in her home. As you may remember, Haregwoin was the orphanage director where the boys came from. Haregwoin was known for her kindness and hard work to take in ophans for many years now. We visited her orphanage while we were in Ethiopia. The biggest question now is who will take over the orphanage and also the plan we had for her to look in on the three siblings, Etagne, Zemedkun and Taddesse. Tigist has been in contact and reported that Haregwoin's daughter will be taking over the orphanage. She is also willing to help with the siblings. Apparently, the children were quite upset with the loss of a woman they all loved so much. Tigist reports that the three siblings are getting settled in to their new home and are doing well with the move.
The visit to Haregwoin's orphanage

Haregwoin signing her book for me. She was so proud to show us all the copies in many languages.Workers at Haregwoin's orphanage

All for Nati

2009-03-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

Nati needs to have an entire post just for him. He has so many great things happen in the last month. Well let's say the last year. Can you believe that the boys have been here almost an entire year?
Back to Nati- He had his first school music program, his 8th birthday, another report card, finished his first indoor soccer league and grew another pant size. He also has this obsession with anything related to horses. He asks everyday about the possibility of getting a horse. He has the boots and spurs and wears them frequently around the house, even with his pj's.
At the end of February, Nati had his first all school music program. All the Beitel Bulldogs performed at the Art and Science Auditorium at the University of Wyoming. We weren't sure how he felt about the program, seemed excited and seemed to be practicing his songs around the house from time to time. He needed to have a white button down shirt and dark pants. Thank goodness for Wal-Mart! He was so excited about his dress clothes that he stayed in them one night until daddy got home, about 9:00. He was so handsome and what a performer. Why were we surprised? Is there anything that Nati has not been able to do. Pictures and video to follow...

Nati also had his first American birthday! He turned 8 years old and oh my...is he 8?!! There is nothing that escapes this kid!! He not only had a whole weekend of birthday celebration, but also had cupcakes and juice at school on Monday. Nati got a skateboard with all the pads they had at the store. Clothes, legos, baseball equipment and books. The last gift to finally arrive was the coveted FOUR WHEELER!! of course it is faster and bigger and better then Kidus' four wheeler. Not really, only in Nati's eyes and that is what counts, right? Monday the 9th of March was Nati's actual birthdate. We opened a few more presents that arrived in the mail that day, had dinner, bath and cake and ice cream then into bed. The whole evening had gone really well and bedtime was pretty normal. I was lying with Kidus on the bottom bunk and could hear Nati up on his bunk. He was crying.. "Nati are you OK?" and he replied "I miss my mom". Daggers through the heart!! We had lots of hugs and kisses and talked about his mother, Kidist Afework. The only phot0 that Nati had with him from his mother was a photo of them together with a cake, a birthday cake, Nati's cake. I know this must be a good memory for him, one I hope he never forgets. I know I never will!! Pictures and video to follow....
Nati also continues to progress at school. He loves his teacher, Mr. Skagen. A special connection, I guess, because Mr. Skagen and his wife have many adopted kids in their home. Nati had a good report card except for "making disruptive noises in class". We are working on that.
Nati also participated in an indoor soccer leaugue this winter. he is such a natural athlete. He really would score at least 5-6 goals per game. He is so fast and really does love the game.
What else can I say about our Nati...Let me share a story that Mr. Skagen shared with Clint and I.
There is a little 1st grade boy. He has been a little fearful of Nati at recess. Nati hasn't done anything to cause it, may just be the way the kid is. He tends to cling to the recess teacher and doesn't play much. So one day, Nati went up to the little boy clinging to the teacher's leg at recess and said, "It's OK little boy I am a nice boy and I won't hurt you." Nati grabbed the little boy's hand and they are forever pals at recess now. Mr. Skagen was so impressed!! He really is a loving, funny kid. I remember our driver while in Ethiopia said, "he is not free in his face" and I think is is safe to say that Nati is FREE!! We cannot imagine our lives without our Nati!!!

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Promise for Children-Kalkidan LeLejoch

2009-03-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

I am not sure where to start it has been awhile since I have written and so much has happened. We have had a few birthdays and many basketball games in this last month. After Kidus and Aaron celebrated their birthdays in January, we had Clint, Erica and Sierra all in February.

Sierra turned 18, I can't believe it! She only has 3 months left of High School and then on to Aveda Institute Denver. She has been accepted into cosmetology school in Denver on the 16th street mall. She is very excited and I think is ready for a change.

Erica is doing well and working at a brand new vet hospital in Boulder. This will help her to gain more clinical experience for her application into vet school.

Aaron is in Ithaca and is continuing his training with the Cornell track team.

Nati is preparing for his birthday on Monday the 9th. He has it all planned out. We are actually going to celebrate on Sunday with presents, cake, ice cream and hamburgers on the grill. I asked Nati if he wanted Injera and DoroWat and he said "no, I want a hamburger and french fries". Do you think he has adjusted? I will do another post about his birthday party.Bailey ran in the State Indoor Track Meet this weekend in Laramie. It was held at the University of Wyoming Feild House and was quite an event. She finished Basketball on the 28th of February and that next Monday she started track. She only worked out for a week with the team and then participated in the 400 meters on Friday the 6th. She placed 9th overall in the 400 meters and her 4x400 team finished 6th overall. We were very proud of her since she never really trained for any of it. She will go directly into Outdoor Track season and wish for greater successes and warm weather.

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Kidus is just Kidus, loving, funny and a real mamma's boy. He can now ride his bike without training wheels and wants us to go outside and "watch this".

So what does the title of this post mean....before Christmas I tried many times to communicate with Cheryl at the adoption agency about the three older siblings that we met when we were in Ethiopia. We wanted to see about supporting them and our office staff had gathered money for Christmas and wanted it to go towards their education or living expenses. After many attempts I decided to contact Tigist in Ethiopia and see if she could give me some information on the three, Etagne(girl, 15), Zemedkun(13,boy), and Taddesse(boy, 11). I was shocked to receive this news from Tigist. AFAA house in Ethiopia had been shut down and all the children had been moved back to the orphanage that they came from. I was not only devastated for the children but also for Tigist and all the house mothers. What about the waiting families that had referrals? I emailed all my "ethiopian adoptive mothers" that I knew and asked if they had heard of any of this. Nobody had any idea that this had happened. But what about the kids especially the siblings? Tigist already had a plan in place for several of the kids that are NOT "adoptable". These children will be put in the government orphanages and Tigist said these are BAD! I can't even imagine. So Tigist had identified 6 children out of the group that were at the AFAA house. They included Etagne, Zemedkun and Taddesse also a set of twins, Tiblet and Henok and an 8 month old boy, Robel.

Bailey, Etagne and Sierra March 2008 -I have a photo of the three siblings and I will try to get it scanned and put in next time.Tiblet-Twin (girl)Henok -Twin(boy)These children will not be able to get adopted for several reasons. Too old and a group of three, the twins' mother is mentally ill and is not able to complete the paperwork, and Robel has truly been abandoned and they are looking for some family to be able to do the paperwork.

Tigist was able to rent a house with 2 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms and a large yard for all these kids and we thought we had it all figured out, when...I recieved another email from her stating that the MOJ passed a new law that any child over the age of ten cannot live in an orphanage with younger children for reasons you can imagine. This meant that the three older kids could not be with Tigist in the new home. I shed many tears and Tigist and I talked back and forth for several days trying to come up with a plan to keep them from going to the government orphanage. These talks included a plan for them to come here to live with us. After much consideration and great commitment from Tigist, we decided that the children will be moving to Debrezeit with Haregwoin. Haregwoin's orphange will be moved to Debrezeit in a few weeks. (Debrezeit was a small town or village that we had visited when we were in Ethiopia. Nati actually has family that still lives there. ) This is the orphanage that the boys were at before coming to AFAA. It has been difficult in Addis Ababa because of the economy and corruption. She has agreed to help them find housing close to the orphanage and has arranged Etagne to become trained in cosmetology and Zemedkun in mechanics and still attend school. Taddesse will be attending school full time. Tigist felt like this is the best option. We cannot imagine that these children will be living by themselves, however, we do not always understand Ethiopian ways. These children will be better off staying in Ethiopia and learning a trade rather than coming to America and being undereducated. Tigist feels this is the best thing for them and I have to trust her. Debrezeit will be a better place for them rather than Addis Ababa. Less crime, less people and close to Haregwoin. Tigist will visit as often as she can, the trip is about 45 minutes from Addis Ababa.

Tigist will continue our "new project" in Ethiopia-Promise for Children. The remaining children, Tiblet, Henok, and Robel will live there along with some of the house mothers that came from the AFAA house. Tigist has worked with these women for 11 years and this was very hard to let them go and see them struggle for survival. We have agreed to support the three siblings, Etagne, Zemedkun and Taddesse and whatever we can do for Tigist as well. You would be surprised how far our money goes there. For example, the house that Tigist has rented will be $3400 for the entire year, which is 42,000 birr.
I know that some of you may not agree or feel like we may get taken advantage of. We know this woman, Tigist, and we know these children. We looked into their eyes and felt their hearts beating as we hugged. We saw their tears when we left Ethiopia and haven't forgotten what that felt like since we have been home. We will do what we can for as long as we can and that is all we can do. I will include some of Tigist's emails in the rest of this post. You can feel the sincerity and the gratitude that this woman feels. We thank you, Tigist, for all you have done for the children of Ethiopia, including our own two precious sons.

A FEW OF THE MANY EMAILS BETWEEN TIGIST AND ME: (Starting with the most recent)

Hi Lisa,
I'm glad that you agree with this new idea. I am getting some furniture and household items for the kids to have once they have their own place. Thank you so much for the financial support you sent as I did pick it up yesterday. You have no idea how much you are doing. I wish you were here to see it all and hope that you'll visit sometime in the future.

I am glad to hear about the boys. We miss them so much and as you we talk about your family a lot here also. I don't have a job yet but I'm trying and applying. Thank you so much for the package you're putting together. It is exciting to be part of such a project especially since we're saving lives. The kids are so happy and that is such a payment for me.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Tigist Kebede AFAA Ethiopia Country Representative

Tigist

I am very happy for the children!! I hope they can find peace in Debrezeit. I am so excited for Etagne!! We will continue to support them in whatever way they need. I can’t wait to see pictures of the houses and will send more clothing as soon as I see how much this shipment will be. We feel so blessed to have you and the children in our lives. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you need anything else.
Do you have any leads on a job yet? I hope you are doing well and think of you aften throughout the day. Nati and Kidus ask about Africa, the kids, and of course YOU often. I think since they hear us talking about everything that is going on they are always curious. They are so precious! We cannot imagine our lives without them. Nati is doing so well in school. His reading is improving and he loves his teacher and school. Has made many friends and is very active in soccer and everything else!! Kidus is such a mamma’s boy! He loves preschool and is learning very fast. An absolute sweetheart!! I think of Ethiopia and people like you everyday and thank GOD for these precious gifts! Nati and Kidus.

We will talk soon.
Lisa MerrillLisa.Merrill@laramieoncology.com

Hi Lisa,
Yes, I also wish that I can have the kids but it's better and I'm relieved to know that they will be in Debrezeit where it is less of a city than Addis and safer. The kids visited yesterday and love Debrezeit and Etagne is beside herself happy to know that they are moving. I was happy to see them happy. Haregwoin is moving her site to Debrezeit because she found a huge space to house her children that a foundation from Italy is preparing to purchase for her/orphanage. This way she doesn't have to pay rent which amounted to 90,000 birr per year.

I do believe that the kids will do better here in Ethiopia because I really don't think they will be able to fit into an adoptive home. They have experienced so much and are now growing and being accustomed to the life in Addis. I do believe that sponsoring them here and making sure that they have some education and that they will be able to support themselves will be more than you can imagine.

Thank you so much for sending the money once again. I will go to Debrezeit myself once they've moved to make sure that they are set up well and give you idea on how they are doing.

Thank you also for sending the package. As always vitamins and basic medicines like Tylenol and such are always useful.

You've done so much already and I hope you know how much of a support you are to us here. I wish there were anyother way to express our feelings and how grateful we are to you and your family. You've saved so many children and also some of our staff members and shown us that life will be better and that our grim future suddenly became brighter again just because of you. Can you please send me a picture of your family so I can have it up in the new home?

Thanks and much love.
Tigist Kebede AFAA Ethiopia Country Representative

Hi Tigist
I was so hoping that these three could be under your care. However, I do understand and know that this is the best thing to do for now. My heart aches and I have shed many tears this morning over this. I just do not want them to end up in the government orphanage or out on the streets! I so wish we could bring them here! I am trying to find some peace in knowing that this may not be the right time? Or is it? My thought is that they will be safer in Debrezeit then in the city, do you agree? We visited there when we traveled to get the boys and it seems nice and a little more quiet than Addis Ababa. Why is Haregwoin moving here orphanage? I am sure that the economy has a lot to do with it?
I trust you to know what is the best thing for these children right now. If you think this is a better then anything other option then we must do it. Please let them know that we love them and that we will keep trying to do what is right for them. Thank you again Tigist.
Tigist, please let me know what else I can do. I am sending two boxes FED EX tomorrow. Clothes, toothbrushes, ETC..
Let me know what you decide about Etagne, Zemedkun and Taddesse.
Thank You for all your hard work and dedication to the beautiful children.

Lisa Merrill

Hi Lisa,
Hope you've had a good weekend. Just to update you on the happenings here. Last week Friday MOJ passed a new regulation that will restrict older children (especially boys) to live with younger children in an orphanage. This means that children over 10 years of age (boys) will not be able to live in the same compound with younger children for many reasons as you can imagine. There are government orphanages that house older children but a horendous place to be in. So I have been driving myself crazy to see what I can do for these siblings. Thank God for Haregwoin who is the orphanage's owner who is moving her site to Debrezeit (45min out of Addis) next week. After a mind racking weekend she found a place where Etagne can train as a hairdresser and still go to school (though I know Etagne will not want to go to school. It has always been difficult to convince her to go to school when she was with me. One parent told me that she might have a learning disability.) while Zemedkun can go to school and part-time learn to be a car mechanic and Taddesse will be going to school. The kids are very excited especially Etagne since she loves to do hair. Now, with your agreement what I'm going to do is with the help of Haregwoin find a place for the children to live in closer to the orphanage so they can keep an eye on them and make sure that they have food, clothing, pay their school fee, etc.. This way they will have some training to help them get a job if necessary when the time comes. I need to know what your thoughts are on this matter since it is because of you we are surviving here. I personally think that this is the best idea other wise the government will take the children and place them in the government orphanage and that is bad.

I am hoping that the other kids will still come to the new home once the whole situation is cleared
Again, thank you for being there for us. I just wanted to update you on the latest on our situation. Talk to you soon.

Tigist Kebede AFAA Ethiopia Country Representative

Happy Birthday to You!!

2009-01-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

On January 10th we celebrated Kidus's birthday. We celebrated his 4th birthday, which could have been maybe his 5th or 6th? Such a weird feeling not really knowing. I woke up that morning thinking of MULU GEREMEW. The woman who gave birth to this little boy. Does she know for sure and was she with us on this day to remember his birthday? I think of her often and will we ever know what happened to her? It was a great day complete with cake and ice cream and a lot of presents from all our great family. There was big boxes from Grandma and Grandpa Caley, Aunt Karla and Uncle David and kids, Grandma and Grandpa Frihauf, Aunt Julie and Uncle Bryan and kids. Kidus was so excited!! He even got a 4-wheeler from mommy and daddy!! What a blessing to have Kidus in our lives!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDUSY!!

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We also had another birthday boy this month. Aaron turned 23 on the 15th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AARON!!
All else is well, just busy as usual. All the kids are doing great. We are very busy at the clinic and weekends are way to short. Life is good!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2008-12-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

I really did forget how to do this!! Should I say life has been a little busy? Since the last time I posted we have made it through Halloween, Bailey's 16th Birthday, Thanksgiving and our first "American" Christmas.

Halloween was a lot of fun with our two little Power Rangers. We attended the Halloween party at daycare and talked the boys out of going into town for "trick or treat". We stayed home and carved another pumpkin and watched a scary movie.

Our little Bailey turned 16 on Nov 10th. No Way!! It has been nice to have another driver but another worry for a mamma. Thanksgiving was also a lot of fun and we had to have a refresher course in history. What about those pilgrims and indians and what year was it? Nothing escapes Nati and he asked the most intriguing questions. We did not make it to Yuma for the holiday and we did not have any visitors in Wyoming either. It was just the boys and Clint and I. I still made a traditional Thanksgiving meal and I have to say we all enjoyed it very much. Christmas soon followed it seemed like days in between. We also had our first visit with santa. Our Christmas plans for Mexico were put to the side when my father ended up in the hospital with an emergent aneurysm in his knee and a blood clot. We had planned on leaving for Mexico on the 20th of December with all of our family, 18 in all. The plan has been in the works for years for mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. We could not go without them!! Thank goodness for trip insurance, we just have all the paperwork to do now. The good news is that my dad is doing better even though he is back in the hospital as I write this for an infection in his incision. We pray that he will go home tomorrow. We had to go to "plan B", we just didn't know what it was. We made a quick trip to Yuma to visit my family there for a weekend. Aaron and Erica came for the week of Christmas and the girl's came back from Yuma for Christmas and the days following. Sierra is back in Yuma with her father for a few days and all the kid's go back to school on the 5th of January.
Aaron will return to Ithaca, NY, Erica will continue to work in Boulder until she hears about interviews for vet school in the spring. Sierra has a visit at the Aveda Institute in Denver on January 21st and Bailey continues to play Basketball and she is keeping her sights on track in the spring. Nati will start indoor soccer in January and Kidus just continues to be too cute for his own good.
We continue to feel so fortunate and blessed to have these two little boys in our life. We have had a few scares this fall with health concerns for both boys. Nati had surgery for an undescended testicle and really did well. He now is a "boxer" boy instead of briefs. HA! Poor kid! Kidus had a visit at Children's Hospital in Denver and we did have quite a scare. His Hepatitis has caused his liver enzymes to be elevated for several months now and Dr. Sundaram told us that if they remain elevated we would have to have liver biopsy and possibly start treatment for his Hepatitis. We repeated the labs and they were back to normal. It truly was an eye opener for us. We were that close to treatment? There are no great options for treatment and none of them are very effective and have bad side affects. We may have to tackle this at some time in his young life but we hope that we can put it off as long as possible.
Clint and I continue to be very busy at the clinic. We want to wish all our staff and couragious patients a blessed and hopeful new year.

Moving On

2008-10-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hello All! I almost forgot how to do this! So much has happened since the first week in September. Sierra is doing better since her accident. She was never physically hurt just emotionally. Sometimes that takes even longer to heal if ever. Life continues to be hectic and joyful all at once. All of our children are doing well.
Erica continues her job in Boulder and has now applied to CSU Vet School. We hope this will be her path in the future. We will see!
Aaron is still in Ithaca, NY and continues to train for track with the Cornell team. We miss him so much and wish he was closer.
Sierra is nearly half done with her senior year at Laramie High. She is still very focused on going to Cosmetology School. We have a visit at the Aveda Institute in Denver in September. She continues to look for a job here in Laramie after school but in a small college town a lot of the jobs are taken by the college students. I would love for her and Bailey to help out at the clinic a little more. We could use the help! She had her senior pics taken and the link is http://jimpowellphotography.com/JimPowellPhotographyWeb/
Then go to ONLINE PROOFING
go to SENIORS
go to SENIORS 2009
then SAXTON-LARAMIE,WY
We were very pleased and are going to have a hard time deciding. Overall, Sierra is doing well in school and her last high school year is going very fast!
Bailey is busy with basketball, even though the season hasn't officially started yet. The first practice will be on Nov 14th? I think. She is also training with the physical therapist at the hospital for track and just overall strength training. She is very motivated for track this year. Her 16th birthday is less than a month away and of course she is hoping for her own car.
Nati is busy being a seven year old. He likes school and has been playing soccer twice a week. He usually does very well scoring but also gets easily distracted by whatever else is going on. Typical seven year old!! He continues to become more loving as the days go by and learning those limits has gotten easier for him. He is looking forward to Halloween even though they really do not know what to expect. What is Halloween daddy?
Kidus is the loving funny boy. He will be a "red" power ranger for Halloween. Kidus also played soccer this fall and was in the "little kickers" league. He loves preschool and just had screening tests done at the school. He tested very "age appropriate" and I will meet with the developmental specialists this week. When I talked to them on the phone, she just said that we have nothing to worry about and that he is one of the funniest loving children they have been around!! I can't wait to see what they say when we meet!!
We have managed to go to a few Cowboy football games. We have season tickets and would have liked to have gone to a few more games, however the boys get a little bored and the way the cowboys have been playing, I don't blame them!
LHS Homecoming was a blast and the girls both looked gorgeous in their dresses. My friend Roberta and several other mothers helped feed the crew before the dance at Roberta's house.
We traveled to Yuma to see my family a few weekends ago and the boys got to go the field and see the sugar beet diggers and all the other big equipment. They picked corn and pumpkins. They also got to see my aunt Roberta that was visiting from Nebraska.
The rest of the month included an African Children's Choir perform at the Episcopal Church, soccer, school, work and home again to do it all over again. We also finalized our adoption and the boys now have their US Birth Certificates. So we have to get their US Passports now for our trip to Mexico in December. I think we are going to make it!!
The clinic is very busy and we have had to reorganize because of recent layoffs. So I am back VERY full time and actually more involved with the patient care. Which I really do enjoy!
Hoping you all have had a great fall, we are moving into winter here in Wyoming. It is snowing as we speak! I promise not to take so long in between posts next time!!
Bless you all!

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Reality Check

2008-09-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

No cute video this time.

Sometimes our life takes a slight turn and we have to look back and thank our lucky stars!! Sierra was in an accident on Saturday and luckily she was not injured. She actually walked away with not even a scratch on her. We as parents have so many emotions when these things happen. First of all, RELIEVED that she is not hurt or even dead in this case. ANGRY that it happened and that she will not have a vehicle to drive. She fell asleep and I know it was an accident. Life goes on and we learn our lessons. Call it luck or an act of God that she is still with us today. We are just glad that we can look into those beautiful blue eyes and hear that laugh that we all love to hear. I will write more later, just had to reflect on our day and how lucky and blessed we feel at this moment! Love you all.....

Even Cowboys Take Their Boots Off For Bed...Don't They?

2008-08-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

Nati and Kidus are totally into the whole cowboy thing!! It has been hilarious and after wearing their boots for several days they finally decided that they really are NOT that comfortable.

It has been a good month. School starts next week on the 25th and I really feel like summer is over. The girls have been home for a couple of weeks and seem to be settling back in and busy with friends and shopping for school.
The Yuma County Fair was such a blast and my camera battery was out of juice and I forgot to bring my charger. So this is the best picture that my sister happen to snap of Nati eating watermelon. So funny....

I entered it in the "Adoptive Families Photo Contest" along with one of Kidus that I had taken earlier this summer. These little boys are so precious!!

The girls are ready for school and have their class schedules all figured out. Sierra took Bailey for a tour of the school and showed her where all her classes are. I think they are both excited to be together at the high school this year.

We still have a bit of a dilemma with Nati and where he will end up this year. He did not get accepted at Indian Paintbrush this year. We had to fill out an application for "Boundary Exception" this year because we live in the country and Harmony Elementary is actually our school. We did not get accepted so now we are trying to figure out at the last hour which school has room in the 2nd grade and would be able to offer Nati all the resources he needs for reading and language development. He may end up changing schools several times before we get him where we want him. We will see...

The Olympics have been amazing to watch. We have enjoyed them and the boys have really gotten into it. The have been gymnasts, swimmers, boxers, divers and sprinters!! We have our nightly show along with "watch me mommy" or "watch this daddy" as they try the different sport highlighted that night. Hilarious!

Here is a video of the boys at the river in complete cowboy attire!!

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ENJOYING OUR SUMMER!!!!

2008-08-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Help! As we see our summer sarting to go by very fast! Remember here in Laramie our summer is not very long. I think the boys are actually ready for the "white stuff". SNOW is truly a four letter word at our house. It will come soon enough. Since my last post we have had our 3 month post adoption visit with our social worker. I think she is going to let us keep them!! Just kidding! Things are going really well with the boys and we are working on all those little discipline problems and things are getting better. Nati is becoming a very affectionate little guy and he is so funny!! What would we do without these little boys in our life? Congratulations to you Karen and Bill, they will be traveling to Ethiopia at the end of the month to bring home their two new sons! We are so excited for you! It brings back such great memories of Ethiopia and our travel. Best of luck to you!
We had a great time at Water World in Denver with Aunt Karla and most of the cousins and Bailey and Sierra. See photos..Luckily there were NO photos of the Wave Pool when we were in it with the boys. This is an inside joke for Karla and I..still laughing sister!! How is your knee?
We all attended Cheyenne Fronteir Days and went to see a great concert. Clint, Bailey, Sierra, Nati, Kidus, friend Krista and myself all went to see Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift. It was a fun concert and the girls enjoyed every minute of it. The boys were a little bored at times but really were very good! Nati and Kidus each got a cowboy hat and have hardly taken them off since. Thanks daddy! See photos..
The boys started swim lessons the next week and had such a good time. They finish today with 2 weeks of instruction and I think they are doing very well considering they had never been in a pool before. See photos...
I also have to share my picture of the young bull moose that I was able to capture a few quick pictures of through the telescope. They are not very clear but you can tell that it is a moose!! We don't get to see much wildlife other then antelope at the river, just a half mile from the house.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandma Caley!! Virginia had her 79th birthday on the 23rd of July. We love you mom and grandma!! See photos...thanks David for sending them to us!!

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Happy July 2008!
Here comes August!!!

Honestly I tried to download a Rascal Flatts song to use on the video and I could not get it to work. Maybe next time!

July-Half over??

2008-07-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

This month started out with our "Re-Adoption" court appointment on the first day of the month. It was really a very quick ceremony with Judge Donnell and our lawyer. He asked a few questions and signed some documents and that was it. Nati was more intrigued with the Big Horn Sheep on the judges office wall then anything else. When the judge asked if they understood what was happening, they both just said "NO". HA! It really is hard thing to understand. We still have a 6 month waiting period which will end in October and then we can apply for US Birth Certificates. We are hoping that will happen very fast because we need to apply for US Passports so we can travel to Mexico for Christmas for mom and dad's anniversary. We will keep our fingers crossed. Thank goodness for trip insurance!!
We then traveled to Yuma for the 4th of July weekend. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and went to Aunt Karla's house where we jumped on the tramp, ate a wonderful meal and met new friends and family. Uncle Bryan introduced us to a new family pet...the turtle. Thanks Uncle Bryan!!! The fireworks were in town later that night and Nati loved every minute of it. Kidus however...kept his head buried under the blanket and kept saying "too loud"!!!

The next morning Nati ran out to see if his turtle was still there and what?...there was another turtle in the box. Thanks Grandpa!!!! The boys each have one now! If you can tell there are a lot of turtles in farm country. They are now happy in the garage in Laramie Wyoming. Nati has really kept very good care of them. Kidus doesn't like them very much, he is still a little apprehensive about picking them up. Nati..not a care in the world! I am waiting for one of them to take a hold of his finger and not let go. He probably will not like them so much then!
We spent the 4th at Grandma and Grandpa's house and the boys enjoyed riding on all the tractors with grandpa. Grandpa let Nati steer the big tractor and they ended up in the ditch pretty quickly!! The big tire tracks were pretty telling! The neighbors will think Fred has really lost it!! We had wonderful food and company and fireworks after dark. It was really a great time. I think the best thing for me is seeing my family interact with the boys and how natural it really is. It seems like they have always been a part of our family and it warms my heart. Thank you family!!

We did leave on Saturday to head back to Laramie. After all we needed to get the turtle condo set up and get those turtles out of that box! HA!

Monday came around quickly and back to the same old routine. Clint off to work, Nati to school and I worked on Monday and Wednesday and Bailey watched Kidus while Nati was at school. My birthday was on the 8th and we had a great celebration. It was more for the boys then it was for me. I would like to forget about my birthdays!!! I received some beautiful pottery, a beautiful necklace from Sierra, a candle from the boys and a platter that reads" The Roots of a Family Tree Begins with the Love of Two Hearts"! A real tear jerker, it doesn't take much for me to shed a few tears these days! Thanks Clinty, I Love You!
On Wednesday evening we took the boys and Bailey to the "Mr. T Extreme Bull Riding here in Laramie. The event is part of Laramie's Jubilee Days Celebration for the 4th. The boys went crazy!! The cotton candy and snow cones helped top off the evening. I will include pictures!
Bailey helped me stain the garage this week. That was a huge project. Now I know why those people charge so much! We did get it done and it looks great. While we were staining one day the boys were no where around and I walked up the hill to see if I could see them and they were up to the corner with a rope and Nati said "we were hunting antelope". I thought I was going to die laughing. They were both so serious!! Yesterday, the boys were clear down the ridge from our house "hunting antelope". It is so funny! I really needed a close up to show you their outfits. Picture this....Nati with a "welding mask" from Clint's workshop, garden gloves, basketball shorts and of course, the spiderman shoes and a rope! Kidus had his spiderman sunglasses and shoes , garden gloves and basketball shorts. Hilarious! I took a picture of them in the middle of our 40 acres. They spent hours "hunting antelope".

All the other kids are doing great. Aaron is on his way home from Oregon where he attended the Olympic trials the last few weeks. Erica is busy with her job in Boulder and Bailey is busy being a fifteen year old here in Laramie. She will be going back to Yuma with Sierra after the 19th of this month. Sierra still is in Yuma with her dad and I miss her very much. I know she needs to spend some time there with her dad and other friends, but I do miss her so!! To think she will be a senior this year and in less then a year she will be getting ready to go off to school and planning her future. Where does the time go?
The boys have been home three months on the 1st of July and we have our three month post adoption home study this next week. The boys finally were moved up on the waiting list at the daycare "Basic Beginnings". They will be going just two days a week. This will get our foot in the door for preschool in the fall for Kidus and afterschool care for Nati.
We are busy but really do not know how else to BE? We love our life with our children, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!!!!

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June..Basketball, Bugs, Warm Weather Finally!!!

2008-06-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

The month of June was filled with basketball camps for the girls, a whole lot of mosquitos and finally some very warm weather.
We had a lot of rain and the river was very high and overflowing the banks the first part of June, so therefore we have MOSQUITOS!!! We have finally been in the 80's for the last few weeks, it feels really good to me!!

Kidus and I traveled to Lakewood for a camp for both Bailey and Sierra. We sat through 4 games for 3 days and Kidus was quite a trooper. He made a lot of friends on the BB team!! All the girls spoiled him rotten. Nati had to stay home and go to summer school and keep daddy company. He loves his time with daddy!!

Aaron arrived home from Ithaca on June 15th. It was a great Father's Day present for Clint. Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful fathers out there, including my own DADDY!! I love you so much!!

That next week I ended up in the hospital for two days with a terrible stomach virus? or infection? of some kind. I never want an NG tube again, I know that! Clint took great care of the boys with a little help from the kids. Not exactly how I wanted to take a few days off?! That weekend Erica came home so we had a full house with all 6 kids at home.

The girls left for Yuma on Monday the 23rd. They will be there until this week and Bailey will be home for a few days until we go back to Yuma for 4th of July. The boys have not been to "mommy's home" yet. It should be a thrill for them to see all the big tractors and trucks on the farm. Everyone will be busy in wheat harvest when we are there. There will be a lot of things to see, including fireworks for the first time. We are anxious to see all of my family!!

This weekend Clint and I took the boys to the Denver Zoo, Ocean's Journey and an Ethiopian Restaurant. We had a great time!! The weather was beautiful and the boys were so good!

I will post pictures of the boys swimming at the local rec center, our backyard and our weekend in Denver! Enjoy the pictures!

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Where Did May Go?

2008-06-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

Where did May go and April for that matter? May was a whirlwind month for us here at the Merrill household. The last time that I posted we had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Caley and from there we kept very busy. I think everyone has been concerned that something is wrong or the boys are not adjusting very well. Just the opposite!! The boys have continued to adjust very well.
Nati finished first grade this last week. He was a student at Indian Paintbrush Elementary. It brought back memories of when the girls went there. Some of the same great teachers and a few new ones too. Although I have to admit I felt really old when I went to a Writer's Workshop Awards Ceremony for the first grade class and all the mothers were so much younger then I was. It actually was funny to see the looks on some of the faces. Nati really did do well in school. He will participate in summer school which starts this next Monday. Basically just to help with his English development. He was proficient in all other areas and socially did very well also. We feel so lucky!! He is such a good boy too. We have had some times that "pouty boy" comes out and we do not always know how to handle those behaviors. He is never aggressive but almost always withdraws when discipline is needed. I think it is getting better. He has really given his older sisters some struggles when mom and dad are gone. That has been good for them and him to know that he won't get away with everything he tries. The other concern is his "little white lies" or "liaring" as Nati would say! He tries to get us to believe things that we know are probably not true. We usually ask and he will admit to his "liaring". They are not big hurtful lies just little things. We are trying to not make too much of it but let him know that we are not going to believe everything. Overall, Nati is a fun loving, curious, smart little boy and we absolutely love him!!

Kidus has gone to daycare at Beth's house. He really loves going to "school". Beth has quickly gotten attached to him, which is not hard to do. Kidus spends a lot of time with me when Nati has been at school. I am working a couple of half days a week to stay caught up at the office. I still bring a lot work home and it usually sits here and stares at me until the next time I go back to the office!! HA! Kidus has become a mama's boy and is helping me develop my biceps again. (He likes to be held and carried!!) His health for now seems to be stable. We just finished his medication for Giardia (intestinal parasite) and treated Nati as well, since they were drinking from the same water supply.

Both boys are growing like crazy!! Nati has gained 8 pounds and has grown taller. We question whether the original data we got before the boys got home was accurate. According to that, Nati has grown 2 inches!! Kidus has gained 3 pounds and has not gotten any taller. I think he will always be a pee wee.

They have put a million miles on their bikes and enjoy trips to the river. They really are happy little boys!

On May 8, 9 and 10th, Nati traveled with his daddy and sister Erica to Connecticut to watch Aaron compete in the Outdoor Heptagonal Track meet at Yale University. The highlight of the meet was Nati finally meeting his big brother, Aaron. Aaron was injured and did not compete in the meet but was nice to have family there to support him. That same weekend Kidus and I went to Regional track meet in Cheyenne WY to watch Bailey compete. Aunt Karla, Brittnee and Jenner came to cheer her on and keep us company. Bailey performed exceptionally well for a freshman and ended up qualifying for State Track meet in 4 different events. We were very proud. It was snowing and about 37 degrees. Great Wyoming track weather!!

The next weekend we traveled to Casper WY to watch Bailey compete in her first State Track Meet. She did very well and the weather was much better. She placed 7th in the open 400 meters, 3rd in the 100 meter relay and 5th in the 400 meter relay. Quite a performance for a freshman. We were very proud!!!
Go Bailey!!

Bailey placing seventh overall-400 mBailey 4x400 team placing 5th Bailey 4x100 Team placing 3rd

The next weekend we traveled to Ithaca NY for Aaron's graduation from Cornell University. It was great to see Aaron and he finally gets to meet his youngest brother, Kidus. The weather was great and we had a great time overall. It is very difficult traveling with 7 people, 2 of them being 7 and 3. Poor Nati had 4 mothers the whole trip and I know he was very glad to get home. Congrats Aaron!! Proud Papa!!All Six Kids!!Nati-Future Cornell Graduate!

My grown up kids!The WHOLE Family!

The next weekend, Clint and I left for Tallahassee Florida for the NCAA Regional Meet. Aaron competed but was still nursing an injury. Needless to say, it was a very disappointing meet for all of us. We felt so sorry for Aaron that his college track career had to end on an injury. I guess things like that make you focus on the bigger picture and what your future plans are after track!? Grandma and Grandpa Frihauf came and brought Brittnee and Abby to help out with the boys. The boys loved having them here and got a lot of special attention from Gr and Gr and those girl cousins!!

I will put together some photos of the month of May for you all!!

June finally arrives and the girls are involved in Basketball Camps all month. We leave on Thursday to go to Lakewood CO for a 3 day camp.
I will try to keep up through the summer for all you blog fans!! Thanks for following us on this incredible journey!

A Week in the Life of Nati and Kidus

2008-05-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

Clint, Nati, Grandma Caley and Kidus

Grandma and grandpa Caley were here for a few days to meet their new grandsons. We had a wonderful time getting aquainted just when they had to go. Erica and Dan were here also for a night. This last week was busy with school and a trip to Denver, CO to see a physician at Children's Hospital for Kidus. She specializes in Hepatitis or liver disorders. We really liked her and so did Kidus, after awhile?! He did not want to see another doctor. He kept saying "no doctor". He had to have blood drawn and a liver US and was such a brave boy. They poked him three times before they got a blood sample. It was hard to see little Kidus go through that, but we knew it was neccesary. We recieved a call from the doctor this week to go over the lab and x-ray results. We already knew that he was Hep B positive. The blood tests will show us what stage he is at. The blood tests showed that he is a chronic carrier of the virus and has a significant viral load. He will not need treatment right now but will need close monitoring. We will repeat his lab studies in three months and will go to Denver again in 6 months. In the meantime, Clint will continue to research the disease so that we can better understand what the prognosis will be. He is such a fun loving baby boy, it is hard to understand that he is even sick at all. So time will tell....

Grandpa Caley, Nati and Kidus on the bridge!

Nati continues to do well in school. He has made friends very easily and all the teachers love him. He has been a little aggressive at recess and has had a few warnings, so we will work on keeping our hands to ourselves. The big highlight of Grandma and Grandpa Caley's visit was when we walked up above the train yard on the bridge. Just in time for a train to come zooming by!!!! The bridge shook and what a rush!! Nati was so excited and every time we go over the train yard we look for trains zooming by!! What a thrill! Nati then went on a trip with his daddy this weekend. He got to meet his big brother, Aaron! Clint, Nati and Erica all traveled to New Haven, Conneticut to Yale University. Aaron would be competing in his last Heptagonal Championship. We received a call from Aaron on Wednesday and knew right away it must be bad news by the sound of his voice. He pulled his hamstring in practice and would not be able to compete this weekend. What a heartbreaker!! Clint, Nati and Erica all went to support Aaron anyway. We love him and are so proud. He has done better then any of us ever imagined. I have talked to Nati on the phone several times and he sounds great. He is thrilled with his new brother and has been a real hit among Aaron's friends also. Clint said that Nati was being a very good boy! It was probably good for Nati and Clint to have some time together.

Riding bikes in Washington Park

Kidus, Sierra and I went to Bailey's regional track meet in Cheyenne this weekend. The weather was horrible. It snowed. the wind blew so hard and it was only 37 degrees. Not a great track day!! Despite the weather, Bailey performed so well! She will be going to the state track meet in 4 events. She ran the 200 meter, 400 meter, 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay. She is only a freshman and to go in 4 events is really an amazing accomplishment. We are so proud.

Sierra, friend Ashley, and Bailey at Regional Track

Tomorrow is Mother's day! I first want to say "Thank You" to my mother. You are truly the best mother anyone could ever have. I love you so much! To moms everywhere...Happy Mother's Day!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

2008-04-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

So sorry for the long time between posts. It has been a little busy! This last week we went to the doctor for physicals and the dentist. Both of the boys were so brave and did so well being put through all the poking and prodding. What sweet boys!! The doctors appointments went well. Both boys received several vaccinations and blood tests. Kidus is Hep B positive as we already knew but wanted to confirm. We are waiting to go to Children's Hospital in Denver to see what kind of treatment he will need . We also had an x-ray done to help determine his age and the x-ray shows that he is only 3 years old. We knew he was tiny we just were not sure if it was do to malnutrition or if his birth date was wrong.
Nati is very healthy and also checked out better than expected at the dentist. He only had two cavities and Kidus had four. We do have to go back to get the cavities filled under conscious sedation. The dentist we chose is a pediatric dentist in Denver and we really liked her and her staff all fell in love with the boys and were fighting over who was going to take care of them. Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Karla met us in Denver to help us at the Dentist's office. It was so great to have them there!!
We also met Nati's teacher this last week and he attended his first day of school this Monday. He will finish 1st grade. He is actually very upset that he is in 1st grade. He keeps telling us "I am in 2nd grade". By birth date he should be in 1st and I hope that he is advanced and we can accelerate him in math and other areas that he is doing so well in. I will post some adorable pictures of the boys.

Bailey continues to do well in track. She also had her 9th grade dance this last weekend. She was adorable and Sierra did her hair and makeup. The girls are doing well in school and seem to be all caught up since the trip to Africa. They get along really well with the boys and have such fun with them. It warms my heart.

Grandma Frihauf has been here since last Thursday. The boys are falling in love with their grandma and vice versa. It will be hard to see her go. We had a great time and we even were able to make an Ethiopian meal including Injera and Doro Wat. Ethiopian flat bread and chicken stew. The boys loved it and thanked me for attempting and I guess, being so successful at our first Ethiopian meal. It was fun and it was great to see the boys gobble it up!!
Grandma also made each of the boys amazing quilts with vibrant African prints!!
It was very hard seeing my mother go. It was amazing how fast the boys became attached and Kidus especially had a difficult time seeing grandma go. He had a grip on her jacket that I had a hard time prying off. It was heart wrenching and very difficult for everyone. You wonder what is going through those little minds when things like that happen. All the goodbyes they have experienced in their short lives!!
Nati is loving school and is doing really well. He had his ESL assesment today and I am anxious to see how that went for him. His English is very good and getting better everyday.
We are waiting for Grandma and Grandpa Caley to come this weekend and see their new grandsons. Also Erica and Dan. We will be gone all day Sat for Bailey's track meet and then home to a full house. Should be a great weekend and then we start all over again on Monday.

I will post pictures and try to do better keeping up on posts.

Love you all!!

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More Snow!! :(

2008-04-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, I would like to write about fun in the sun instead! More snow today. We are in the middle of a blizzard actually. Nati went out for a short time this morning until the wind picked up and now you cannot see past the driveway. Here is a great video of Nati, THE SNOW BOY!! I also posted some of the pictures of this week and of course that video of Kidus!

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Boys in the Snow!

2008-04-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

Her are my THREE boys. Especially the BIG one loves the snow. Actually Nati did not want to come inside. They really have tolerated the cold pretty well. I guess that is a good thing! Nati did ask if "Mom, you can turn it off?". There are days I wish I could!! The boys are really doing well!! I have a great video of Kidus dancing to "SHREK MOVIE". I will try to post that soon. It is hilarious!!

The Reason for this Journey!

2008-04-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

The reason for our journey.....two incredible mothers who gave birth to two beautiful sons......

Your faces will be forever engraved in our hearts and minds......

Welcome home Nati and Kidus... We love you so much!!

First of all, a big thank you to all our family and great friends for thoughts and prayers that have helped us along the way.

We arrived home last Tuesday, April 1st. Where do I start? I would like to post the emails that I sent during our stay in Ethiopia. Starting with Day 1.....

Hello All!!
We finally made it to our hotel. It has been quite a journey so far. We had major troubles with our flights and ran through the Charlotte NC airport and also the Dulles Airport to each connecting flight. What a disaster. It all started in Denver with a bad tire on the plane and it fell apart from there. We made our Ethiopian flight and that was all that mattered. Actually the flight was not bad and we were able to sleep, watch a few movies and read. It was still very long.
When we arrived we had to stand in line for our visas and baggage claim went pretty fast and our driver was even there still waiting!!!! His name is Zerihun and what a sweet man. We were greeted with hugs and a big smile. He will be our driver for the rest of the week. He called Tigist when we arrived and she gave us a report on the boys. Nati has had a cold for over a week. He has developed a cough and is on antibiotics. He has a dr. appt in the morning and then when he gets back we will be able to meet the boys. Zerihun will pick us up at 11:00 am. It is midnight here now and we just ordered room service. The food on the plane was not the best. I love you all and wish you all a Happy Easter. I will try to post more on the blog. Funny story about Sierra. Our drivers car and 8 suitcases from the airport!!! More later...

Hello All!! Day 2 was amazing. We became parents today again for the 5th and 6th time.

We tried to sleep in a little this morning, but my clock is all messed up and I wanted to get about 4:00 this morning. Plus the excitement of meeting the boys was too much to sleep through. Zerihun picked us up at 10:00 am and we drove to the AFAA house. Kidus and Nati were waiting for us. The guard let us in and the boys came through a door to greet us. I cannot explain how that felt. All the waiting just melted away. Nati seemed a little shy or not sure about us, but Tigist reassured us that he has been waiting a long time for us and that he is very happy. Kidus took to us right away and will have no problem adjusting. It was unbelievable what a loving child he is and after playing soccer with the girls and catch with daddy, Nati warmed up to us and was ready to go with us by the end of the day. He is still on antibiotic and tonight ran a fever. At dinner he got a teary eyed and said he did not feel well. I touched his head and he was definitely running a fever. We were able to get some children's Tylenol and he is resting much better right now. Of course I did not pack a thermometer or children's Tylenol. Who knew? The boys both seem very comfortable with us, especially Kidus. His language skills are very good. Even though we cannot understand Amharic!! Nati read the book, "The Little Bear" to us before we left the AFAA house. He is very smart and really did well on the sticker books and also dot-to-dot. Tigist tells us he is very smart. We are planning on visiting Nati's school tomorrow and also Haregowoin's orphanage. We had a wonderful talk with Tigist today about the boy's family. Both of their mothers are still alive. They saw the boys in February when they had their court date. They had to travel from Harar, which the AFAA had to pay for. They are both very poor and have no means of taking care of the boys. They want to come to the "going away" party for the boys on Friday. Tigist wanted our permission to ask them to come. It is rare that the children have a family member to share stories and photos and felt it was so important for the boys. We agreed and shed tears over that. Kidus' mother is very ill from time to time from her HIV/AIDS. Natinael's mother is healthy but just has no way to care for her son. This has been a very emotional day and we are a little wiped out right now. The girls were amazing today. I am so proud of them and how they became the best big sisters that any two little boys could dream of.
I will try to post some pictures maybe tomorrow. I cannot seem to log on to the blog, but will keep trying.
Karen, your boys are truly adorable and loved the cards. Could not quite figure out where the music was coming from! It was adorable!!! I did get some video and the boys had played with our cameras so much that we ran out of battery. I will get more pictures tomorrow. I gave each a hug and a kiss from mom and dad.
More tomorrow!!

Hello All!! Day 3 and we are tired!! When I signed off last night Nati was running a fever and was a little sad. Our room situation is interesting and actually has worked out well. We have adjoining rooms and one has twin beds and the other has one king. The girls have the twin beds and Clint, the boys and I all slept in the king bed last night. I guess you could call that bonding!! Nati talked all night in his sleep in English I might add, and even sang a song. Kidus was wide awake at 3:20 and went to the bathroom at least three times!! He is hilarious. The funniest little boy I have ever been around. You cannot understand a word he is saying. We are starting to understand a little more and so are they. Nati has been a little more animated today. We started our morning off with breakfast and the boys had porridge!! All the wonderful delightful yummy things on the buffet and they wanted porridge. Nati has not eaten well, I hope maybe because he is just not feeling well. We then left and went to Haregowoin's orphanage. She really is a hero here in Ethiopia in the world of orphans and adoption. Our poor driver had a hard time finding her compound but finally we went down one more winding rocky road and found it. I had her sign the book that was written about her and all her efforts towards helping the orphans of Ethiopia. Both of the boys were brought there by the Harar police when they were surrendered by their mothers. The boys were recognized by all the workers at the compound and received hugs and kisses from Haregowoin. We took wonderful pictures!! We then stopped at the zoo. This is a very small zoo, but Nati was very excited. They have these wonderful lions with black hair. "Only in Ethiopia" we were told repeatedly.Our driver has been a wonderful companion this whole trip. He has helped us with all of our entry fees etc. and has been giving us history of the city everyday while we are traveling. Nati did not feel well while we were at the zoo, so we went back to the hotel and rested for about an hour. Then we went and had a late lunch. The boys ate really well. Mom, you will appreciate this, the time you said "should I keep feeding her?" that is what we kept saying about Kidus. It was hilarious!!! We then went back to the AFAA house and took more pictures. And the boys visited all the house mothers and their friends. We thought since we had our driver out and about, we would go to the Museum. This is located on the Addis Ababa University grounds. Very interesting!! We had an excellent tour guide!! Great history of Ethiopia and of course, Lucy's Bones!! When we returned to the hotel we decided to try to take the boys swimming. Kidus was afraid of something, we could not figure out! But he actually had a great time swimming. So did Nati, we did not stay too long since Nati had been sick last night. I know we are great parents, right!! We came to the room and took hot baths and got our jammies on and have ordered room service. Tomorrow we are going shopping and going back to the AFAA house. We will eat at a nice restaurant tomorrow night. Nati speaks very good English and Kidus just repeats everything we say with a big smile!! We love these boys!! The girls are doing great and have amazed me by their maturity and how they have handled the poverty. I have talked about all the good, but there is so much sadness and poverty. It really is overwhelming!!
Ok, the funny story about Sierra. We had prescribed some Scopalimine patches for her motion sickness and then before we got on the plane, the girls were both nauseated and anxious about the flight. So we gave them each an Ativan. About a hour into the flight , both of them were asleep. Which was really a good thing. Anyway after about 8 hours Bailey woke up and actually had breakfast and read her book. We never could get Sierra to wake up for longer then 3-4 minutes. Her eyes were droopy and she could hardly talk. It actually was very funny!! All of a sudden at the end of the flight I remembered that she still had that patch on. I turned around and said Sierra take that patch off, as she is wiping drool off her cheek!! You would not believe how quickly she woke up! It was very funny and Bailey and I had some great times taking pictures of her. I will try to post later!!
Timmy, can you help me get on the blog? Still having trouble.
Love you all!!!
More tomorrow!

Hello All!! Day 4! It is all becoming a blur! Today we went to the AFAA house to check in and see if we have everything for the Embassy Day tomorrow. The house mothers all love to see the boys and I know they will be sad when the boys leave. They are all so happy for Kidus and Nati!! Tigist told us that they all lit a candle and prayed when Nati got his parents! He has waited so long. Tigist had to walk away the other day before she shed tears in front of Nati and Kidus. We visited all the babies and there is another family here right now to pick up their baby. It was fun to see them also. They are a young couple from Kentucky with three other children. They will be busy also. Zeruhun took us shopping after we left the AFAA house. We bought Traditional Ethiopian outfits for the boys and other artifacts and also some gifts. Zerihun was very helpful and took us to shops that very attentive and helps out so much! Very neat stuff! The boys will wear their traditional outfits for their going away party on Friday. Zerihun drove us through the Mercato, a big open air market, it was complete chaos!! I was so glad that he discouraged us from walking through it. It was too overwhelming to drive through it. The people, the cars, the smells, the donkeys it was quite an experience. When we left the Mercato, we had to find a children's shop to buy Kidus some clothes. Everything I have brought for him is too small. We then went to a great Ethiopian restaurant called the Zebra Grill. It was great food and the boys ate really well. Kidus always dose!! Zerihun stayed with us the whole day until we went back to the hotel to swim. The boys had to much fun!!! We then went to the room and rested and then went to dinner here at the hotel. All the staff here at the Sheraton just love seeing us and the boys.
Nati has really warmed up today and has had a smile most of the day. We know he will be our hard one. I thin that Zerihun said it best, "he is not free in his face" . Clint and I looked at each other and tears running down our cheeks, It is so true!!
Kidus is a clown. His name is pronounced (KIDEUCE). He is absolutely hilarious!! So loving and caring about Nati. He is a gem!!
Tomorrow is Embassy day!! Wish us well.
More tomorrow!!!

Hello All!! I have truly lost track?! I think it is day 5 and today was embassy day! It went very smoothly and the boys will be issued their visas tomorrow morning. Friday! Tigist will pick the visas up in the morning along with other necessary paperwork. The boys were so good today at the embassy. There are no cameras allowed so sorry no pictures of the special moment. I have a little boy on my lap right now. They are so fascinated with technology! I think I said yesterday that Kidus' clothes were too small. WRONG! I was under the influence of "not enough sleep" when I said that. Everything is too BIG! This morning after breakfast we walked around the Sheraton grounds and we were by the fountains and his pants fell down around his ankles. It was hilarious! Nati and him are very good to each other. Kidus continues to be our amusement everyday. He really is the funniest little boy we have ever been around. Our driver, Zerihun, even said that he is a "comedian". We did not need to be at the embassy today until 1:30, so the morning was pretty free. We let the girls sleep in while we took the boys to breakfast and then walked around. We went to the AFAA house to meet Tigist then she drove us to the US Embassy. The security was very tight and it felt a little uncomfortable. There were at least 10 other American couples there with many baby girls! Tigist said that the embassy does not like the fact that so many Americans want girls. It was very hot while we were at the US Embassy. I felt a little sick with a very bad headache.
Nati has been better at times and then very sad and a little distant at other times. Tigist told us that it will take time and that this a very stressful time for him. The boys at the AFAA house talk about the "going away" party and that they will never see each other again. We must remember that he has memories of his mother and this is a very stressful thing for him to go through. The mothers will both be there tomorrow. Tigist said it is a day that you just hope to get through and want to be over. When we leave the AFAA house after the party we will not return no matter when we fly out. It is just too hard!! The mothers will travel by train from Harar to Addis and then back again the very same day. It is too expensive for them to stay over night. When they came for the court date they had to spend the night and that is very expensive for the agency. We offered to help pay for any expenses that the agency might have to pay. It is rare that children have any family members to come for the party or court date. I think we are lucky for the boys to still have this connection although very hard! We went to the Ethiopian Airline office today at the Hilton and tried to get our tickets changed to Friday night. They only have one seat so we need to check in tomorrow and see if we can get 6 seats or maybe we will have to wait until Sat or Sun. We promise to keep you posted. All flights leave at night. So we should have time to contact you and let you know when we are leaving.
We went to a great restaurant tonight. The TOP VIEW, it was very good and Kidus enjoyed every bit of his INJERA and BONSHA SHIRO. He is quite the eater. Poor Nati fell asleep during dinner and hardly ate a bite. I think being sick and the stress of the week have been too much! He went right to sleep as soon as we got back to the hotel.
We love you all! We will keep you posted!!

Hello All! Day 6! We did receive the visas today for the boys! We went to the ticket office at the Hilton for Ethiopian Airlines and we were only able to get a flight out on Sunday. So that means we will arrive in Washington DC at 8:00 am on Monday morning. We have quite a long layover in DC. We will not leave there until 3:30 pm and arrive in Denver at 5:00 pm on Monday evening.
Wow, what a day. We arrived at the AFAA house about 1:45 pm and Tigist was going to meet us there about 2:00. The mothers of both the boys had arrived earlier and were there already. I don't know how you prepare for such a thing. Right away Nati and Kidus knew their mothers were there and had mixed reactions.
Kidus-Ran and hid in the play yard and would not interact with his mother at all. I think he was afraid that he would have to go with his mother. We held him and told him we were still his parents and that we were still going to America. The house mothers and Tigist talked to him. There was a little boy with his mother that we were told he was a cousin to Kidus. He was about 9 years old and very thin. We were told he is HIV+ and I would believe it. You should have seen this poor little boy. It makes you realize that the children at the AFAA house are very healthy and happy. Tigist told us that neither Nati nor Kidus have siblings. His mother was very thin; actually Tigist told us she was much better health wise than what she was when she came for the court date. Kidus and she look exactly alike.
Nati-He is still very attached to his mother. He stayed in the "bedroom" with her until she came into the yard and she had tears in her eyes the whole time. She reacted to Clint and I right away. She hugged us and would not let go. She cried and kept clutching her heart. It was so difficult. Nati has very good memories of his mother. She told us of very hard times when they had no food and no where to stay. She truly loves Nati and thanked us for giving him a better life.
We told both mothers that we would never forget them and would make sure that the boys would never forget them. We thanked them both for this wonderful gift of two beautiful boys. Many tears and hugs!
I have a lot more history on both of the boys, but will post that later.
Today was probably one of the most difficult days for each Clint and I, ever. I cannot imagine giving your children up and knowing that you cannot take care of them. Tigist sat us all down and had an "interview" with the mothers and Clint, Sierra, Bailey and I. The boys were busy playing with the other kids. They were instructed by Tigist to go and play while we talked with their mothers. They are such good boys. That is the only time that Nati got off his mother's lap. I was worried how the rest of the "goodbye party" would go. Would we take him kicking and screaming? Both mothers were very tearful when we were down talking about their lives and what had happened when the boys were born, etc.. Like I said, nobody can prepare you for this.
Tigist finally looked at us and said, "It is time to go". All the house mothers were crying and Tigist. The doctor that helps take care of the kids came and he was crying and said to both Clint and I, "God bless you". He gave each a hug that would last a lifetime. There was not a dry eye in the house. Fikre, one of Nati's good friends was so upset. It was so hard to see. The house mothers tried to console him, but it was so hard! (Karen, your boys are very special and they will be home soon.) We finally had to just get in the car and go. The boy's mothers were still standing at the gate. Zerihun, our driver, talked to the boys in Amharic and told them, "new life now" and "you will be loved and taken care of". We could not dry our eyes.
Bailey and Sierra-What strong and beautiful girls we have, inside and out. They were such troopers. They shed tears and were so good to the boy's mothers. I think they learned so much today. They learned how strong a mother's love can be. I love them so much!
Erica and Aaron-Even though you are not here physically, you are here in spirit and there is not a moment goes by that we do not think of you and you must know how much we love you both.
Clint and I-We are doing alright. We feel like we have "survival guilt". We feel like we took these two boys away from their mothers and the house mothers. Nati has been there for over two years and is very attached.
Tonight at the hotel, there is a sense of relief, that the goodbyes are finally over. The boys are very happy and very loving. Nati is more loving now then he has been before. Kidus has always been a lover. Nati fell asleep on my lap at dinner. Something he would have not done two or three nights ago.
We must sign off now. We have two very tired little boys and two very tired teenagers and two very tired parents.
We love you all so much and today we learned and confirmed the true meaning of family.....

Hello All! Day 7? Today was very tiring. Our driver suggested that we take a trip to the "country" and get out of the city. We went to Debre Zyit. It is southeast of Addis Ababa. It was good to see another town with countryside. There was more agriculture and not as crowded and polluted as Addis Ababa. Zerihun knew the area and took us to see the volcanic lakes. There are three and they are very pretty. We ate at the third lake area, and by this time we were ready to go back to the Sheraton. I am sorry that we are not a little more adventurous but seven people in a little Toyota and the heat and smells and the traffic was a little too much. We were thankful to Zerihun because Nati actually has 2 uncles and a grandmother that lives in Debre Zyit, so it is a special place for us all. It is a very different atmosphere there from Addis. The boys did really well today. It was a long day. Nati is acting out a little, testing the waters. We did multiplication tonight at dinner, he is a very smart boy.
We returned to the Sheraton about 3:00pm and went swimming. We are just ready to go home. We miss everyone and want the boys to see their new home and get adjusted. We will spend tomorrow at the hotel, maybe swimming and packing. We will leave for the airport about 6:00 pm. Check in is at 7:00pm and the flight will leave at 10:00pm. We will arrive at Dulles in Washington DC at 8:15 am. We will look for an earlier flight but the clerk at the Ethiopian Airline counter said that the 3:00 pm flight was all they had. We will call you parents as soon as we are on US soil.
Not long now....

We arrived in Denver at 5:00 pm on Monday night and we had planned on meeting Erica at the airport, which we did. We also had a great surprise, my aunt Susie, uncle Kenny and cousin Robin with her son Dillon were all there with a big sign welcoming us home. Thank you so much to all of you to make our homecoming more memorable. We then drove to Ft. Collins and met Grandma and Grandpa Frihauf, aunt Karla, Jeremy, Jace, Jenner and Brittnee, aunt Julie, uncle Bryan, Abby and Alex. Thank you all so much for being a part of our homecoming!!

We had to spend the night in Ft Collins because I-80 was closed. Actually turned out to be a good thing. We were exhausted!!

The boys have been home now for 5 days and I think are doing exceptionally well. Kidus has had a few temper tantrums but we have worked through them and Nati has been such a good brother. I will post more later....this mommy needs to get to bed.

Photos from Ethiopia!!

2008-03-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

Kidus in the middle "throne"!
Kidus being silly!
Wave.....
Kidus with our card!

Natinael with his card!

My friend has returned from her trip to pick up Beti, their eleven year old daughter. Her and her husband took pictures and also took our cards for the boys! Here are the pictures they took of the boys getting their cards! Mommy, daddy and your sisters are coming soon......

One Week Before Travel!

2008-03-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

We will be leaving in exactly one week from today!!!! We are so excited and hope that we have thought of everything. We installed the car seats in the Excursion today. We also loaded the 50 lb duffle bags with all the donated items that we are also taking over. Our suitcases are packed except for the last minute stuff and they each way just slightly under 50 lbs. We also had to pack for the boys. Assuming that they will want to come with us the first day, we figured we would need about 6 days worth of clothes. And of course, PJ's, undies, shoes, etc. So needless to say, we are just about at our weight limit!!

The girl's are at their dad's for spring break this week and we will pick them up Friday on our way to Denver. Our flight is on Sat the 22nd at 8:15 am. If we can get the boy's visas on Friday the 28th, we will get an early flight out on Sat. the 29th. If we do not get them on Friday, we will have to wait until Monday and fly out on Tuesday the 1st of April. I know we will be ready to come home by Friday. So.... wish for quick immigration paperwork!!

This is our last week of life as we know it now. Things will never be quite the same and I have so many emotions. I have not been sleeping very well for about a week and I wake up worrying about all sorts of strange things. I hope this will pass once we are home!!
Clint has a very busy schedule this week. Our Nurse Practitioner is off this week which will make things a little worse. Clint will just have to keep up every day so that we can get out of town on Friday!
I talked to my friend Rhonda that traveled in January to get Efrem. She gave me a lot of advice on many different things. It was great to talk with her!! I also have received several emails from Kristy and her husband, Travis. They are in Ethiopia right now getting their daughter and took cards over to the boys for us. I am anxious to see Kristy's pictures.
We will try to keep in touch by email or through the blog while we are gone. There is no cell phone service in Ethiopia!! Thank God! It will be good to be away from phones while we are there!

We love you all and will be in touch!

Family Pictures from Heptagonals

2008-03-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hello All
I wanted to get these photos on before we leave. Aaron had his first Outdoor meet in CA this weekend. He did really well and that is an understatement. He ran the 400 M hurdles and beat the school record!! He ran a 51.04 his personal best and good enough to win the meet and beat the Cornell school record. It was last set in 1948 with a hand time of 51.1. He also ran the 110 M hurdles and got 3rd with a personal best of 14.27. He is off to a very good start with his outdoor season!!!
I will still try to get his videos on here. It just might be after Ethiopia!

So Much To Tell!

2008-03-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since I last posted. We have been to New York to watch Aaron compete at the Indoor Heptagonal Championships at Cornell University in Ithaca. What a great time we had and Aaron did such a great job. We are so proud! He ran the 60M hurdles and placed 2nd overall, he also ran the 500M and placed 2nd overall and their 4x400 team placed first. The men's team for Cornell won the overall team trophy. What a great senior year fot Aaron! I will try to get a video or some pictures posted soon. It was very exciting and not just to see him compete, but to see him in his role as co-captain and really a leader for all the underclassmen. The girls all had a great time and it was hard to leave Aaron and come back home. We miss him so much! We will be making a few more trips back east in May to watch the outdoor season and to watch Aaron graduate. I can't believe he is a senior?!

On to our next adventure.....Ethiopia!!! We leave on Saturday the 22nd of March. That is less than two weeks away! It really is going to happen! We did get heights and weights on the boys. I am not sure how accurate they are like all the other information we have gotten.

Kidus Geremew Merrill = 37 in tall and 35 lbs.
Natinael Afework Merrill = 48 in tall and 54 lbs.

The height for Kidus seems a little taller than the photos indicate? Ha!

We are so excited! The tickets are bought, the hotel has been reserved and the social worker in Ethiopia is ready for us!! The girls will be working hard to get all their homework caught up. It is spring break the week prior to us leaving so they will actually be gone from their friends for two weeks. Heaven forbid!!! Bailey seems to be freaked out about this a little more than Sierra. They will be spending spring break in Yuma with their dad. We will have to have all their things packed prior to them leaving for spring break. We have packed 4-50 lb bags of donations that were sent to the agency, then on to us. Each of us can check two 50 lb bags and then one 20 lb carry on. This should be interesting!! We have decided to fly directly out of Denver. We were originally going to get a flight from Laramie and then on to Denver. But the times were just not going to work out. So we will drive to and from Denver. We should return on the 31st and the girls hopefully can return to school on the 1st of April.
We will have internet connection in Ethiopia. I am not sure how good it will be, but we will try to keep in touch with all of you during our stay! There is no cell phone service!

Today is Natnael's birthday!! He is 7 years old. My friend, Kristy, is in Ethiopia today and has a card for each of the boys and I can't wait until I can see a picture of Natinael getting his card. It won't be long now and we will have more than just photos!!!
To my friend, Karen, hang in there dear and your boys will be home soon also!

Thank you all again for your love and support along the way!!
13 days and counting!

Happy Birthday to Sierra!!

2008-02-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to my oldest daughter!! Sierra is having her 17th birthday today! Hard to beleive that she is that age already. We will celebrate by going to lunch with Bailey today. (She will play hooky for an hour) Grandma and Grandpa Frihauf are coming up this afternoon for dinner and overnight to spend time with us. We miss them so much! Wish all the family could be here! We miss you all!
Then on Friday morning we will be leaving to go to New York to watch Aaron run in the Indoor Heptagonals at Cornell. We are so excited to watch him. We are so proud of him and how well he has been performing and also keeping up with grades and life in general. He will graduate in May!!

Love you Sierra! Happy Birthday!

Travel Plans at Last!!

2008-02-27T09:31:00.000-08:00

We have confirmed a travel date of March 22nd and we will return with our two boys on March 31st. I can't beleive this is finally happening!! Our Embassy date is on March 27th. We have also had some communication with Tigist in Ethiopia and confirmed birthdates and formal names. So their formal names are KIDUS GEREMEW MERRILL born on January 10, 2003, and NATNAEL AFEWORK MERRILL born on March 9, 2001.

So by the time they come home they will truly be 5 and 7. Natnael will have his 7th birthday without us, but a friend of mine, Kristy, will be traveling to Ethiopia that week to pick up their daughter. So I will send cards to both of the boys for her to give them. She has promised to take a lot of pictures also.
We are so excited and can't hardly beleive we are at the final stages!!

Congrats to Bailey!

2008-02-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

Bailey's 9th grade basketball team won 3rd place in the conference. We traveled to Casper, Wy for the tournament and the roads were horrible. Welcome to winter travel in Wyoming!!

Bailey is #5 in the back row!

Congrats Bails!!

News from Ethiopia

2008-02-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

We haven't heard much since we passed our court appt on Feb 5th. We are still waiting to confirm travel plans and to do that we must have a confirmed embassy date. This is what Cheryl had to say when I heard from her on Thursday.
So once again, we wait.....

Hi Lisa,
I did receive your e-mail and passed it on to Tigist the same day. I then didn't hear from her for 4 days and just now received some e-mails from her. She said the Internet connection in Ethiopia is struggling with all the people using it and it keeps going down.

She has the information about your travel plans. She wrote that the problem is there is no one to issue the government letters that must be used to first get a birth certificate, then get a passport and then a 2nd letter that is needed for the Embassy. The part of the Ethiopian government handling adoption cases is small - 3 1/2 people with one person very much in charge and their 2 full-time and 1 part-time helper and as you know, Ethiopia is being flooded with agencies across the US, Canada and Europe placing children from there. Christian World Adoptions hired the lead Ethiopian government person away to work with them about 2 months ago and no one has replaced this person. Tigist told me it took almost 3 weeks to get a letter for another family, for BC's and passports, and she still needs the letter for the Embassy. She has been working on getting the letter for your family and several others but does not have them as of today.

Happy Birthday to Clinty!! Look at all that smoke....

2008-02-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Clint's birthday. Our celebration was very subdued,but enjoyable. As long as he has some of his kid's around and carrot cake (WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING), that is all he needs. I am sorry that Aaron and Erica could not be here with us. I was at the girl's basketball games all day starting at 10:30 in the morning and ending at 6:00 pm. Clint had to work all day Saturday to try and get caught up. So just another day and birthday! We love you so much, Clint!!

There is not too much news to report on Natinael and Kidus. We still have not heard anything from Tigist about travel. Maybe this week! We did talk to a friend that has a home daycare and she has agreed to take Kidus. Since we think he is actually closer to three instead of five. He probably will not be ready for school for awhile. Thank you, Beth!!!

We Made It!!!

2008-02-06T11:13:00.000-08:00

We finally received notice this morning that we made it through the Ethiopian courts on Tuesday the 5th!!!
This is an unbelievable process that has taken so much longer than expected. But the wait is finally coming to an end! We will wait now for an Embassy date and Tigist will let us know when that is and then we will finalize our travel plans!! Should be 4-6 weeks. Anywhere from the 3rd of March to the 24th of March will be possible. We will keep you all posted on travel plans!

Comments please! I know you are out there looking in but it would be great to know who is all reading and keeping in touch!
Thank you to everyone for all your support and encouragement along the way!

New Pictures!!

2008-02-03T11:37:00.000-08:00

Here are the new picture from Rhonda. She traveled just a couple of weeks ago to get her son, Efrem. She was so gracious to get all these great pictures for us. She did not get to see Natinael as much as Kidus. Therefore, there are more photos of Kidus since him and Efrem are best buddies.

We are anxiously awaiting our court date on Super Tuesday for many reasons!! We will keep you posted!! Enjoy the video!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This just in from Ethiopia

2008-02-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

"Nati is excited to see his new family and come to the US. He is a very loving and caring child. Kidus has completely convinced himself that Nati is his brother now and expresses love towards him always. It is so wonderful to watch. He was quite sad when Efrem left but I reassured him that he will be leaving soon also which made him smile."

Cheryl, the director at the agency had asked about any further information on the boys and this is what Tigist had to say.

Every bit of news is so valuable!
I will post pictures as soon as I have them from Rhonda.

4 Days and Counting!!

2008-01-31T19:25:00.000-08:00

Our court date is fast approaching and we are hopeful that we will get through on our first try. It seems that families are getting through faster now than they were after the courts reopened in September. We have made some tentative plans for travel based on our Feb 5th court date. We wanted to travel on the 17th of March, but the Thursday of that week, the 20th is a holiday and the embassy will be closed. So we will likely travel on the 10th of March or maybe the 27th of March. It all depends on the 5th of Feb!!! Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers!!

We received an email today from Rhonda Fox, the mother that traveled last week to get her little boy, Efrem. I have a couple pictures of Efrem on the blog with Kidus from a couple of months back. Rhonda told me that Kidus is so sweet!! His laugh is to die for and her girls fell in love with him. She said it was very sad when they left, because Efrem gave Kidus a hug and Kidus cried and cried. She did not think that Efrem really understood what was going on. She also told me that Kidus does not look or act like he is 5 years old. She thinks that he is closer to 3 or 4. Efrem is 31/2 and Rhonda beleives that Kidus is his age. I have thought that before in some of the photos that we received.
She also said that she had met Natinael. He is also a sweetheart!!! She did not get to spend much time with him because the older kids were in school most of the day. She had met him before when she traveled there. Can you imagine the families that Natie has seen come and go and always the one left behind? Not this time!! We are coming soon to get you Natinael!

We are so excited and can't wait to get our boys home. We seem to have everything ready and just need to concentrate on travel plans and packing all the right things.

The office staff is having a "baby shower" or "kid shower" for us tomorrow night. Mainly just to get together and celebrate life as we know it right now. Because it will never be the same!!

Thank you all for your support, love and prayers.

Court Date!!!!

2008-01-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

We finally received notice that we have a court date!! On Saturday we had about an hour between basketball games for the girls and so we ran to the office to check on a few things. I thought I should check my email and when I did there was a general email to the "group" about "Ethiopian Updates". Cheryl (the director at AFAA) usually makes just a lot of generic post about the courts or Ethiopia in general. This particular post was about court dates for 7 children. I quickly read down the list to find tha Kidus and Natinael were second from the bottom. OH MY!!! I ran down the hall to Clint's office and starting banging on the door. (This was the one time I didn't care about interrupting his dictation!!!) "We have a court date!!!!" The tears were were already flowing!!!
So now what......Our court date is scheduled for Feb 5th. This is an appt that is handled by the AFAA representative, Tigist. If we pass court on that date then we will travel 6 weeks later. That should put us traveling around the 17th of March. That is spring break for the girls and would be perfect timing. But......we have to get through courts on the 5th or all will be pushed back until we do.
I had so many emotions just like the day we received our referral. Of course, happiness but a little panic and a little sadness for the families that are still waiting for a court date. My friend Karen in Phoenix, her little boys were NOT on that list among others that have been waiting. Karen has sent all the pictures that we have cherished and also a lot of support along the way. So of course I was sad for her, her family and those little boys, Fikre and Habtamu. (I hope you know what your support has meant and you too will be on that list soon!!!!) Karen did send me one more photo in celebration of our court date. This is good! Thanks Karen!I will leave you all with this........

We love you all, our wonderful family!! We will keep in touch!

News About The Photo Albums

2008-01-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

We finally received word from Ethiopia about the photo albums. They have made to the boys. Here is what Tigist had to say......When you sent the pictures and I gave it to them they were happy that they will be joining their adoptive families. They are very happy to see them. We have opened their file and I will let you know when I have the court dates.

So this brings me to my next question... What does "we have opened their file" mean? I thought our file had been in Ethiopia since July. So I fired off another email to Cheryl, the director asking about the status of our case and asking for a very detailed explanation of exactly where we are with the process.

This has been such a frustrating experience. The wait is just killing us and the really bad thing is that we are powerless. They have our children and our money and there is not a thing we can do about it, but wait.......

Days Go By....

2007-12-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

As we come to a close on 2007, we look back on the year and realize that we have had so many good thing happen this year. Our children are healthy and happy and are really all very "good" kids. We feel so lucky that our family has come together like we have. Our children all love each other and have a great time together. We were able to spend all summer with Aaron and had a great time in Steamboat with all 4 kids. Our holidays were wonderful. Aaron was home from Cornell and Erica and her boyfriend, Dan spent Christmas with us. We had such a great time and the girls really do enjoy having everyone home. It was a lot of cooking and cleaning for me, but it was all worth it. Bailey and Sierra are spending some time in Yuma with their dad and will start school again on the 7th of January. We had a great office party and our office staff this year gave us a great gift. They collected money and sent it to AFAA to help support a child in our name. Everyone is in the spirit of giving the gift that keeps on giving!! This was such a special gift. Thank you all!!
We will end our holiday celebration this weekend with my mom and dad coming for New Years. I hope that my sister and her kids can come also. We will see!!
The biggest disappointment for the year was that we were not able to get the boys home from Ethiopia. We still have not heard anything about a court date and therefore have no idea when we will be traveling. At this point, it could easily be March. We are trying to be patient, but this becomes more frustrating every day! We will keep you posted......

It's All We Have For Now

2007-12-10T21:15:00.000-08:00

I want to thank Karen again for some wonderful photos. Since this is all we have for now, we will take it! Some of these were taken over a year ago and some as recent as April 2007. Enjoy the photos!!!
Natinael Practicing his Karate!!Natinael on bike!Kidus!!Pajama Party - Natinael in the back right in white jammies with his arm around his friend TarikuKidus!Kidus getting tickled!!Karate in Pink Jammies!Natinael in Aug 2006Natinael on the left in light blue jacket.

More pictures!!!

2007-12-07T12:17:00.000-08:00

Thank you Karen!! The pictures have helped put a bright spot into the last few days again. I am so thankful for any little piece of information or photos that I can get. It makes me realize that these are real little boys. Enjoy the photos!

Natinael with those big dark eyes with his buddy Fikre.

Kidus is in the background of this photo of his friend Efrem. This one is just too cute not to show you again!
Natinael-What a cutie!!
Another spelling of the name-who knows? Isn't he precious?!!Group photo-Natinael in the back in green and Fikre is on the right in pink/purple.Thanks again Karen! These are so precious to all of us!!
Pray for fast court dates!!!

Oh Boy-How about the BIG BOY!

2007-12-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

Aaron we are so proud of you!! Aaron had his first indoor meet of the season this last weekend. Please click on the link below and get all the details. It makes Clint and I very anxious for trips east for track meets.
http://www.cornellbigred.com/index.asp?path=mtrack&tab=mens

Way to go Aaron!!

We do not have anything positive to report on the adoption story. We have had a very disappointing day and frustrating as well.
I have called all week to get an idea about the DVD and other goodies that we wanted to have sent to the boys. It has been sitting in Indiana all this time waiting for Cheryl to return from Liberia. After the third phone call this week I was told today that the DVD could NOT be sent to the boys. I was devastated!! I poured my heart and soul into that and just imagined them getting it and looking at it over and over again. AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!! Apparently there were issues when Cheryl took another DVD into Liberia this last week. Children were teased, cried, etc and I guess it was not a good scene. So...bottom line is it will not be going to the boys. All they will get is the photo albums.
I was such a mess after that conversation that I had to have Clint call to talk to Cheryl. What about court dates? Why are so many other agencies and their families getting court dates and AFAA families are not? Clint learned what a tough character Cheryl is and was able to have a conversation but really did not get any more information. We will just have to wait.......

I am over my shaking and crying but what makes me more angry and sad is that Natinael and Kidus are waiting also. We just want them to come home.........

We must concentrate on the good things....Sierra and Bailey are playing BB all weekend and that will keep us busy. Everyone is healthy and happy at home. Also, Aaron and Erica will be coming home soon for the holidays and we will be together!!!

No Court Date Yet

2007-11-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody! I haven't posted in about a week and I know you are all dying to know if anything has happened yet. So are we...

No news yet about court dates. I did have a great weekend though, because of a couple of emails that I received through the AFAA yahoo group. I had sent out a post on the site last week asking if any families would be traveling to Ethiopia soon and also announced that we had a referral for Kidus and Natinael. Several families have replied saying that they have traveled recently or their children knew Natinael and Kidus. It was wonderful to hear the stories from other children that were at the AFAA house with Natinael. I will share this story with you.......

Lisa, are your two little boys at the AFAA house? I try to update Tru and Penn as to what's happening with the other kids who were still at the AFAA house when they left. Their eyes completely lit up when I said your boys were coming to America. I asked my kids what your boys were like, and Tru said, "They are so sweet and so cute!! Kidus loves toys and loved the tricycle." Penn said Natnael was always trying to ride a broken down bike at the AFAA house and thought that you better have a bike ready for him :) Tru also wanted you to know not to feel bad if Kidus is very quiet the first day and cries when you leave Ethiopia, and that they both love milk. She said Kidus will probably eat anything but Natnael might have a harder time with new foods, and Kirdus is shyer than Natnael. She thinks they need to sleep in the same room when they come to your house (our kids are still very afraid to sleep alone). I loved hearing Tru tell me all of this, it made me realize how far she has come so quickly.So how is that for some random thoughts on your kids :) Tru wants to know where you guys live. When they come, it might help the boys to have our kids call so they can hear a friendly voice. Let us know if that would help.
Our kids (9 and 11, unrelated boy and girl) have been home three and a half months. They are really doing beautifully. It's not easy at first. The grief they feel over leaving their country, their friends, their religion, their food, friends, remaining family members, it's just all-cosuming for many weeks. Our daughter had a rough time at first, and I had days when I went to sleep wondering if I had adopted a child I would never love. Those feelings are all gone. She is fantastic, they both are. They are crazy about all of us, every member of our extended family. They are extremely smart, great athletes, wonderful to our two little boys, 2 and 4, have made friends easily, are a great help around the house. Our son (age 9)is a truly gifted artist, is painting with watercolors, can freehand draw anything. I can't believe we got such great kids. Four kids is really hard - that's been our biggest struggle. We both have demanding jobs, and trying to balance the needs of our small boys with two new kids with issues, keep our marriage intact, and carve out time for ourselves as individuals is not easy. But I really feel that it couldn't be going any better. Watching all four of our kids bond, mature, become a healthy, happy family, has been amazing.

And this from another mother.....

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for sending me the link to your blog - I cried watching your video and I don't even know you! It doesn't take much to make me cry these days. You have a beautiful family and a magnificent home. The boys will have so much fun playing in that yard - if you can even call it a yard - I guess
more like a field. It broke my heart to read your blog - a mixup with pictures. I am amazed at how you can so fall in love with a picture. Our son, Mintesinot, is 5 now - we adopted him 2.5 yrs ago through AFAA - we got about 5 pictures of him 2 months after our referral and the pictures clearly were of 3 different children. We really didn't know for sure which was him, but decided to go with the one holding a card with his name on it. Then Melissa Green sent us pictures of Mintsinot with his father Eskender (I saw a picture of her book in your blog - our sons story is in Chapter 1) that's when we were sure of who he was.
I posted a picture of one of our sons, Fikre-Yohannes, and his 2 friends - Tariku and Natinael. Fikre is on the left, Natinael in the middle. Tariku went home in September to New York. His mom, Kate Muldowney, said it was a very tearful good-bye for the boys. I have pictures of the three boys back almost 2 years ago at AFAA. The second picture - Fikre is on the top with his chin on Tariku's head and Natinael is to Tariku's left in the orange. I am sure that Fikre is in the CD taken last year that you spoke of, but I have not seen it. These are pictures I have copied from other AFAA families off our group site.
I hope I don't muddy the water more with confusing pictures. The McNichols family lives in California they have 5 Ethiopian children and 3 bio children, they have been a tremendous help to us. They brought Shawn and Fikerta home in July - I am sure they can point out kids names in pictures if you want further clarification. And Jana that posted recently on the AFAA site- her children just came home and probably could do the same.
I would love to keep in touch so when the kids come home they can talk on the phone. We have met with 7 other families in California - all AFAA families - all of the kids were at the AFAA house with at least one other child - 32 Ethiopian children in all at our celebration - the Ethiopian New Year. That may be a little far for your family, but I'll keep you posted on our get togethers.
I hope you find peace with the picture mix up and that we get court dates real soon.

Picture #1 Fikre, Natinael and Tariku

Photo #2 Natinael is in the back in orange to the right of Tariku and Fikre. I believe the little boy in front with the grey sweatshirt is the "first" Natinael that we got pictures of on Oct 8th.

Thanks Karen and Jana, any information is so precious!! It is so great to have these parents that have "been there, done that".
I hope to form great friendships and bonds with these families, for we all share a common love for these special kids!!

We will continue to update you all and please have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!! We have so much to be thankful for!!
Love you all...

The video and care package for the boys!!

2007-11-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

I think we are finally done with the video for the boys. We will get it sent off this week, first to Indiana and then on to....Ethiopia. We wanted to add so much more. There is so much to tell and see, but we did not want it to be too overwhelming for them. We did not want to leave out anyone, so I hope that we did not hurt anybody's feelings!! We tried to introduce to the boys, the things and people that they will see the most in their lives. We cannot wait until they receive it and watch it over and over until they can come and see it in person.

We love all of our family and thank you for your support!!

Bailey's 15th Birthday

2007-11-10T22:04:00.000-08:00

Today was Bailey's 15th birthday!! Where does the time go? We went to dinner with the boyfriends at the Vee Bar Guest Ranch. It is a great old B & B in Cemtennial. Just 15 minutes from our house. The food was wonderful and we had a great time!! Enjoy the pictures!!

Bailey with Roses from Tyler Bailey and Tyler
Kelby and Sierra
Clint and I
The girls

A Case of Mistaken Identity

2007-11-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure how I was going to start this posting. It has been an interesting 5 days. Let me start on Saturday when Clint went to get the mail. There was an unexpected envelope from AFAA (Americans for African Adoptions), our agency. I anxiously opened it as Clint stood by and watched. There was a letter from Cheryl stating she had included recent pictures of Kidus and Natinael along with their medical test reports. As we viewed the pictures we were shocked to firnd that the picture of Natinael was not the same little boy we had been cherishing for the last month. Shocked and confused we stood there and wondered what to do next. It is Saturday afternoon and we couldn't call the agency until Monday. Many tears were shed and a few choice words as well. How could they make this mistake? Now another face of a little boy had entered our minds and hearts and this might be our son. Monday came very slowly and I called the agency first thing and Cheryl was not available. I explained the situation and asked that she call me right away. All I got was an email stating she would forward the pictures to Tigist in Ethiopia and ask for clarification. In other words, she had no idea!! I waited all day Monday and Tuesday with three little faces swimming in my mind. Finally by Wednesday morning at 9:30, I couldn't stand it any longer. I called the agency and asked for Cheryl, and basically had a conversation that made my blood boil. I will spare you all the details. I finally got the answer.

We have a new face that we will continue to love and become more familiar with as the months go by. This is still the little boy that loves the color purple, loves pasta and soccer. He is still close to Kidus and knows that he finally has a family to call his own. There was never any confusion in Ethiopia. This little boy is the one that was told he had a family and would come to the US with Kidus.

Meet our NEW son, Natinael and of course, Kidus!!

It was still a little difficult to take down the picture of the little boy in the grey sweatshirt that we had received on October 8th. We had considered adopting him as well, but I was told today that he has been adopted along with his sister. That picture will always be a part of our story. I thought about changing the video at the beginning of the blog, but I think I will just make another. It is still a part of this journey that we have made. Sometime in the future when Natinael reads this blog we will explain that all things happen for a reason. HE was meant to be our son!!

The addendum has been received in Ehtiopia and we are waiting for a court date. No idea how long it will be. We have the photo albums all ready to send and the DVD is almost done. We are just waiting on a few last minute photos.

Love you all!!!

Playroom and more......

2007-10-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

We continue to get things ready, including the playroom and of course a few toys. The boys will have NO clothes that they will bring with them and I guess it is a good idea to have Kidus dressing like a boy instead of a little girl. We have bought clothes that we THINK will fit. It is hard to know since we do not have heights or weights. We just have the pictures to go by. Any ideas on shoes sizes? Give me a shout!! We did buy a pair of CROCS for each one. They said that is a good idea since they are NOT very fitted.

The bed in the "tree room" looks so BIG!! It looks great just took up a little more room then I thought. But thats OK, we have a great playroom!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

I just have to share...Bailey called me today at noon and she had to give her Civics presentation and she just had to tell me that when she got done, Mr. Ferguson had tears in his eyes and said it was by far one of the best presentations he had seen. Bailey had done her entire presentation on "WE THE PEOPLE" and what it meant to her. She explained that "we the people" has taken on a whole new meaning for her and our family. It goes beyond the constitution and the USA and includes people all over the world including of course, Africa. She had great pictures and information on adoption and how the boys have already had an impact on her and how she thinks about children all over the world that are less fortunate. Obviously it must have been a real tear jerker because Mr. Ferguson DOES NOT shed tears!!! Way to go Bailey!!!

What??

2007-10-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Now the agency doesn't know if the addendum has to be authenticated. So it is still sitting in Indiana at the agency's office waiting for further instruction from Ethiopia.

So if we do NOT need the authentication process, we can ask for the court date, and maybe travel by the end of the year. If we DO need the authentication, then we have just lost 2 weeks with it sitting in IN!!!

I updated the video. Check it out! We are still working on the DVD for the boys.

Good News or Bad News, Which First?

2007-10-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well I will start with the bad news and then we can end this post on a good note. It looks like we will not have the boys home for Christmas. Sometimes I think I must dream up these timelines that I write about. But seriously, I have been told so many false timelines that I should just know by now. Cheryl told me today that there is "no way you will travel by December". The addendum has to be authenticated in IN and then in DC before it goes to Ethiopia. Just a minor detail I didn't know about!! Then we can apply for our court date. We then travel 6-8 weeks after our court date. Can you see the calendar pages being torn off and thrown in the trash? So I had to put travel plans on hold and shed a few tears and then I looked at the pictures of the boys and realized that it was OK. The good news.......they are still ours and coming home to join our family. It may be a little longer wait then we thought, but it will still happen.

The boys have been told about us and so they do know that they have been chosen for adoption. We are working on a care package to send. We already have a mini photo album for each of them. Our agency director, Cheryl, said that a lot of parents are now creating a CD to send to the kids. They do have a CD/DVD player at the foster house to watch it on. Can you imagine how many times that will be watched in the next couple of months? So we are trying to be creative and have some fun with this for the boys. We will definitely share it with all of you as soon as it is finished.

We have so much to be thankful for. A loving spouse, beautiful healthy and caring children, a lovely home and a wonderful and very supportive family, a succesful business where we help people every day. So if we have to wait another couple of weeks longer then we thought, that's OK. It is what it is and when we finally have the boys home, it will all be worth the wait.
Love you all!!!

OK, so now what??

2007-10-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!! I am sure you are all wondering so, now what? Well things have been a bit of a whirlwind since we got our referral. I don't cry everyday now just every other. I can't believe they are ours. The first thing we had to get done was an addendum to our home study. Clint and I had originally said we wanted a sibling group ages 2-5. Now we have unrelated children and they are ages 5 and 7. So we had to contact our home study agency in Cheyenne and get the changes made. That has been forwarded to our placement agency in Indiana and from there it will go to Ethiopia. Once Tigist (the social worker in Ethiopia that works for AFAA) receives the addendum she will go to the Ethiopian court and request that Natinael and Kidus be assigned to us and it will be official!! We then will travel within 4-6 weeks to Ethiopia to bring our boys home. I am hoping to have everyone home for Christmas. We should be in Ethiopia for 5-7 days. We have contacted a travel agent that specializes in adoption travel and are starting to get plans made.
The girls are doing well. Bailey is done with her Freshman volleyball season. We traveled to Gillette last weekend and watched Bailey's team struggle through their last day. She is such a great player, I hope she doesn't get too discouraged and will go out next year. Basketball starts on November 12th. Things should get really crazy then. Sierra will be playing Varsity and Bailey on Freshman maybe Sophmore or JV. Different schedules of course!!
This is so unbelievable!! It really is happening and we are all so excited. Thank you all for your love and support. As we get more information about the boys we will pass it on to you.

It's a Boy!! (Boys)

2007-10-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mom and David! We love you!

More Information!

2007-10-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

This email came today from Ethiopia via AFAA. Cheryl passed it along to us and now me to you! (She said there is still another correction on the spelling of the name for Nathnael. Now they say it is Natinael. This may change again and that's alright!)

Regarding Natinael and Kidus, I am extremely happy to hear they have a family and they will be going to be adopted together.

Natinael is in the 2nd grade, he loves maths and is very good at it. He loves to play Karate, soccer and loves the Manchester team. He is very close to Kidus and I believe will be great for him. He loves the color purple, he loves to eat pasta. He is 7 years old. He is from Harar and his birth mother is alive but is HIV+. He has no other siblings and his father is deceased.

Kidus is 5 years old, he has very good character and is very kind, knows how to play with his peers, he loves to play lego and plays with it all the time, he is good with food and is loved by all at the foster home. He is from Harar and has a brother who is about 8 years old who is HIV+ who lives with his mother who is also HIV+. His father is deceased

I will continue to pass along more info as it comes from the agency or Ethiopia.

Love you all!

The boys!!

2007-10-09T21:08:00.000-07:00

I waited all day by the computer, checking each "inbox" every second to see if there was anything from AFAA. It was a loooong day! Nothing came except for junk, and other "business" emails. Nothing from AFAA. I was turning off my computer about 3:30 pm to meet the girls to do some shopping and there it was! AFAA in my inbox. Clint was on his way to my office and I told him I thought I had an email from AFAA. I could not get my inbox open fast enough!! There they were, Kidus and Nathnael. What beautiful boys!! Kidus is the little one in girl's clothing. Nathnael is in the gray fleece with the brightest eyes!! What a wonderful feeling to know that these little boys could be ours and probably before the end of the year. I could not wait to call each of you and send the pictures. I hope you were able to see them in the individual emails that I had sent. If not, here they are....

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Referral Day!!!!

2007-10-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

I ordered the beds and they came! I can't believe all the emotions that we have felt today. Of course, overjoyed, sad for the mother and father who had to leave these children behind, a little overwhelmed, excited and anxious for the next step. So... what about these little fellas? We have limited information as of today, but this is what we do know.

Kidist (Patience)- Age 5, HIV neg, Hep B +, His mother is still alive and is dying of HIV.
Nathnael (Nathaniel)- Age 7, HIV neg, Hep B -, No family info yet. He is in the 1st grade and is said to be a good student.
They are not siblings but "best buddies".
We should have pictures tomorrow and more health information.

Cheryl from AFAA called about noon today and said "I have two boys, they are not related and they are a little older than you wanted." Clint happened to be in my office when she called and all I had written down was "2 boys" and he was already smiling. After Cheryl had given us as much info as she had at the time, we talked about the Hep B+ child and Clint quickly got on the internet to read what he could about Hep B Infection. Of course we would have him retested here in the states and get an expert to give us an opinion, but as near as we can tell, it should not be too big of an issue.
We could not say NO! How do you decide to change a life or not? We couldn't stand the thought of saying NO and starting over and how do we know who is right or wrong? I knew this day would come where we would have to make a decision about who would join our family. It is a hard decision but there is peace in knowing that the decision has been made.

Clint said to me when he got home from work "This was such a good idea, I am so glad we did this. I feel like we have done a very good thing".

We love you all and thank you for your continued love and support! We will keep you posted!!

Already October

2007-10-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
Thought I would just add pictures of our beautiful family and beautiful land and oh yeah, that beautiful tree?
Let me know what you think. This will be the kid's room! We are getting bunk beds ordered this week. Maybe that is why we haven't gotten a referral yet, they have no beds!!

Oh, this is getting really hard as each week goes by, I wonder if it is ever going to happen. I know it will, I just hope I'm not fifty and Clinty will be 62!! He looks pretty good for 62, oh I mean 54!!
I love you all and maybe this week we will have good news. Still waiting.......

Fall Is In the Air!!

2007-09-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Hello All
Fall is definitely in the air here in Laramie. The wind has been blowing all weekend and it has been chilly! I can't believe that September is over and this next week should be a little busy with Clint getting back from Boston. It is always very busy when Clint takes time off, we must catch up with patients somehow! It is so good to have him home.
The courts will open this week in Ethiopia!! This should mean that things will move along. I talked with Catherine on Wednesday and she told me that Cheryl had several referrals come in and that one of them should be ours. Cheryl wanted to talk to us personally and so we have been waiting for that call. There was a set back on Thursday though when Cheryl's son Mohammed was admitted to the hospital in Indianapolis. This son was adopted from Ethiopia in 1986. It is an interesting story and you can read more about Mohammed and Cheryl on the AFAA website. Anyway, I feel bad for Cheryl and of course this has meant that many families will have to wait until she is back in the office. We will wait and we hope for a full recovery for Mohammed.

I have started to work on the bedroom again. The "tree" has many leaves and the grass is growing "wild". I will try to include pictures on my next post.

We will let everyone know as soon as we know! Love you all!

Frustrating weeks!!

2007-09-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hello all! The last couple of weeks have been frustrating to say the least. I have been on the phone many times over the last few weeks getting little information and feeling like the agency does not even know who I am. The main person I had been working with has been on medical leave and finally returned this week and so I am hoping communication will improve. I also was able to gather a little more info through a "google group" for the families of AFAA, that I did not know about until now. It has been helpful and give s me some support from the other families of AFAA and tips for coping with the wait. I also met a women right here in Laramie that is adopting two girls, sisters, from Liberia. She is also from the same agency and this has been great for support and someone to run things by. She will be traveling on Oct 6th to bring her girls home. They are beautiful and can't wait to learn more about her journey and also to meet her new family.

Clint left on Saturday to attend a seminar in Boston. It is offered through Harvard about "Hematological Malignancies". He really needed some time away from the practice. It has been a stressful place lately with many deaths and unsolvable problems. I was glad he could get away but always miss him so much when he is gone!! He will be back on the 28th.

The girls and I had visitors this weekend. My mom and dad came and watched Bailey play volleyball on Saturday. We also went to dinner in Centennial on Saturday night with the girls and their boyfriends. We had such a good time and great food. We woke up on Sunday to cloudy skies and NO wind!! We went down to the river and took great pictures of mom and dad for their 50th Wedding Anniversary. The girls also had to get into the action so maybe we will use them for Christmas cards. The leaves are really turning right now and it is just beautiful fall weather. I am not ready for the snow to fly just yet!!

We will continue to work with the agency we have now and hope that things will move along as soon as the courts reopen in Ethiopia. That has really slowed down the process and it was just bad timing that our adoption timeline was affected by that. In the meantime we will just keep learning and researching better ways to bring our family together and get prepared for travel, etc. We will try to keep posting as things move along. We love you all and we are still waiting...........

Happy New Year!! -2000

2007-09-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Today is New Years Day in Ethiopia-2000. Happy Millenium! I think that makes us 7 years younger when we travel there doesn't it? (wishful thinking)

Anyway, here are a couple of links to the NPR stories out of Ethiopia today. Thought you might find them interesting!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14341783
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14341780

Love you all! Still Waiting.........

September Already

2007-09-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

Well I have looked at the calender every day to figure out what day it is and what happened to summer. We had a Labor Day celebration for our office staff and a few close friends, my family and Erica, Dan and their new puppy were all able to come. It was wonderful weather and so great to have everyone at the house, especially family. They do not get to come often enough and my neices and nephews are growing up way too fast. We had about 45 people and it was such fun!

On the adoption front, we are just waiting for the courts to reopen. Referrals should start up as soon as that happens. In the meantime we are working on getting the girls their shots and their passports did come. Actually it did not take long at all, about 4 weeks.

Bailey is busy with Volleyball and Sierra is playing off-season basketball, every night. We miss Aaron, and talk to him often. He is busy with track practice and classes. Erica will start her MCAT course in October. Everyone is doing well and we feel so lucky to have such great kids.
So for now, still waiting!!!!

Decision Time

2007-08-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

I am sorry it has been a week since I last posted. I spent most of the week trying to get in touch with the agency. I was so frustrated on Thursday I even contacted another agency. By Friday at noon, I felt a lot better. I finally received a call from OUR agency early Friday morning. Danielle was very apologetic that she had not gotten back to us sooner in the week. I had a very good talk with her and she said that referrals have slowed down because of the courts being closed in Ethiopia. She asked if we would consider two children that are not related? We would get our referral a lot sooner. Sibling groups from 2-5 are a little hard to find. I didn't think that age range was so restrictive, but I guess so. She also asks us to consider an older child. Clint and I talked about it this weekend and I feel very strong about getting a younger child. I know the older they are, the greater chance of having attachment disorders and I worry about getting them caught up academically and the language barrier.

We would consider unrelated children. They would come from the same orphanage and would already know each other. Maybe that is a greater gift, by giving someone siblings that wouldn't have any. Maybe they will even be the same age and could really be there for each other.
I guess if people ask "are they siblings?" we can say "they are now!!"
Danielle said she would call me first thing on Monday to hear our decision. Maybe things will move along once the courts reopen. That should be within the next week. They still say we will be traveling by the end of the year.
The girls and I did some last minute school shopping today in Ft. Collins. They start school tomorrow. A freshman and a junior, I can't believe it!!
Love you all!! Still waiting........

Travel Consult

2007-08-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

Clint and I went on Friday the 17th to get all of our vaccinations for our trip to Ethiopia. We both have had some shots when we traveled to Ecuador in 2005. I still had to get 4 shots and Clint only had to get 3!! We also will be taking some oral meds such as a malaria drug when we travel. Malaria ia actually not a huge risk right in Addis Ababa, but if we travel further south into any villages, we will be at a higher risk.
The gils need to get all their shots yet and so I would like to do that before school starts. This week!!

Waiting to talk to Cheryl at AFAA this week about the referral. I looked back at all my "saved" emails from AFAA. On May 30th I received an email from Catherine at AFAA stating that we were #1 on the "either sex" referral list. We were #8 on the girls list. Catherine and I had a long talk that day and I told here we had never specified which gender we wanted. Either sex was what we had put on our original application and also what was written into our home study. That was 2 1/2 months ago!! So does that mean that they have not gotten any referrals for 2-5 year old sibling groups in those 2 1/2 months? Cheryl needs to call me back and answer these questions. I wish I had never heard the original timeline of "referral by April" and "kids home by July or August", now that seems so long ago! I know it will all happen very fast when it happens. Still waiting!!!

News from Homeland Security!

2007-08-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

We received a notice from The Office of Homeland Security. Usually, that would make people a little nervous, but not us! We are excited because it is one step closer to our kids. This form is an I-171H which is the approval for petition to adopt orphans. This immigration paperwork has been transferred to the Ethiopian Embassy in Addis Ababa. The days continue to go by and still no word about the referral. Everyday I want to call and make sure there is no news. But, I try to be patient and I keep picking things up whenever I go to the store, like puzzles or stuffed animals, or flashcards! The next thing I am going to concentrate on is getting the rooms painted. Wish I knew the sex of the children, so I can decorate accordingly. But in the BIG picture I know it does not matter what color the walls are!!!

Aaron left on Wed morning to head back to Cornell. We already miss him and wish we could see him more often. I know his last year will go so fast.

Erica is continuing to work at the bank and will be starting an MCAT course in November. So she is still moving in the direction of medical school. We are proud of her for staying on course.

Bailey and Sierra are getting ready for school as well. Bailey has been practicing Volleyball all this week. She is sore and has troubles with her toenails. YUK! Sierra is getting ready for her junior year and excited about her art classes and I think is a little overwhelmed when you mention future plans after high school.

So in the meantime, we are enjoying our kids, staying busy with the practice and of course, STILL WAITING!!!

Weekend in Yuma

2007-08-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

Trying to spend time with my family as the summer flies by. It was so much fun seeing and spending time with my nephews, nieces, sister and brother, and of course my mom and dad.
It was a very successful fair for the Blach family. Jenner had the Grand Champion Steer after 13 years of very hard work from the entire family. We were all so proud!! They also broke the record for the highest bid at the livestock sale. $$$$$

Abby and Alex also did very well and it is always fun to watch them. They made good money at the sale and this will help with expenses for the next 4-H year.

Bailey and Sierra are also in Yuma with their dad and were able to spend a lot of time with cousins, aunts, uncles, Grandma and Grandpa!!

Just a great time at the Yuma County Fair!!!

Still Waiting!!

Waiting For Referral

2007-08-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

We are still waiting!! I did talk to Cheryl Carter Schotts yesterday at the Americans for African Adoptions office. Everyone on the blogs and forums is in a panic about the courts closing in Ethiopia during the month of August, maybe into September. Ethiopia operates on a different calendar then we do, it is their Millenium, so the courts will be closed longer. Cheryl reassured me that this would not affect our referral. After we had talked for awhile, she said there are children ready for referrals, but are waiting for medical clearances. She thought we might know more by next week. So...we are still waiting!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_calendar

Weekend in Steamboat

2007-07-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

We all had a great weekend in Steamboat. What a wonderful little mountain town in the summer!! The kids had a fun time. We went rafting, alpine sliding, ate too much and even a little synchronized swimming!! HA!

We are Traveling!!

2007-07-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

Every bit of news good or bad or unexpected is at least news. We received word today from our agency that it is now a requirement to travel to Ethiopia. We had originally thought we would have the children escorted. That bit of news was a little unexpected, but we are actually very excited about traveling to the birth country of our new children. We would like to take the girls with us if there scholl schedule will allow. Of course, Erica would love to go as well, so we will see what we can afford to do. Plane tickets will range anywhere from $600 to $1200. I think it will be invaluable lesson and a piece of our children's lives that we will carry with us forever!! Hopefully before the end of the year!!!

A Good Read!

2007-05-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

I just finished a great book written by Melissa Faye Green titled "There Is No Me Without You". http://www.thereisnomewithoutyou.com/

This a great story about the AIDS orphans in Africa and an amazing woman named Haregewoin Teferra. Also a lot of information about the political and social history of the country. I was glad I had this book during our trips back east for Aaron's track meets.

It was very touching and informational at the same time!!!

Fingerprints Done!

2007-04-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

The application for a petition to adopt an orphan childhas been completed on a snowy day in April. We traveled to Casper for Clint to work at the Casper Cancer Clinic and while we were there we went downtown to the Immigration office and had our fingerprints done. Very interesting process. Anyway, we also shopped for Sierra's "invite" dress at a nice dress shop in Casper and of course she looked stunning in a beautiful purple gown. I was a good day and one more step closer to the African Angels.

Home Study Completed

2007-02-25T20:28:00.000-08:00

We have completed our home study finally. We actually had to go the highway to get the social worker and bring her to the house. TOO MUCH SNOW!!!

Application Completed

2006-11-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

We sent in our first draft of our application. We are still waiting for some additional documents and will send them when we get them. I still cannot believe we are actually doing this!! We are so excitied! The kids are also very enthusiastic. We are busy with basketball season and both girls are doing so well. The holidays ar coming quickly and I know we will stay very busy during this time.

Application Completed

2006-11-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

We mailed in the first portion of our application. We still have a few documents that we are waiting on and will send them as we get them. The springtime in Wyoming is beautiful!!